TheAMICA - Stacks are the Stanford

Transcription

TheAMICA
News Bulletin of the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association
VOLUME 16
October 1979
NUMBER 8
CHAPTER OFFICERS
INTERNA TIONAL
OFFICERS
NO. CALIFORNIA
Pres.: Phil McCoy
Vice Pres.: Isadora Koff
Sec.: David Fryman
Treas.: Bob Wilcox
Reporter: Sharon Bartlett
PRESIDENT
Bob Rosencrans
36 Hampden Rd.
Upper Darby, PA 19082
SO. CALIFORNIA
VICE PRESIDENT
Pres.: Francis Cherney
Vice Pres.: Mary Lilien
Sec.: Greg Behnke
Treas.: Roy Shelso
Reporter: Bill Toeppe
Bill Eicher
465 Winding Way
Dayton, OH 45429
SECRETARY
Jim Weisenborne
73 Nevada St.
Rochester, MI 48063
Bobby Clark Jr.
P. O. Box 172
Columbia SC 29202
Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the Bulletin are
encouraged and invited by the publisher. All articles must be received by the
10th of the preceeding month. Every attempt will be made to pUblish all articles
of general interest to AMICA members at the earliest possible time and at the
discretion of the publisher.
ADVERTISING
• Cle..lflec:l: 10¢ per word. $1.50 minimum.
x 4 3,4"
$50.00
25.00
2500
1250
• All copy must reach the publilher by the 10th of the preceeding month.
• Cash must accompany order. Typesetting. layout or size alteration charges
will be billed separately. Meke checks peyeble to: AMICA
INTERNATIONAL
• All ads will appear on the last pages of the Bulletin at the discretion of the
publisher.
Publication of business advertising in no way implies AMICA's endorsement of
any commercial operation. However. AMICA reserves the right to refuse any ad
that is not in keeping with AMICA's general standards or if complaints are
received indicating that said business does not serve the best interests of the
members of A~ICA according to its goals and bylaws
AMICA BULLETINS, BOUND ISSUES:
1971,1972,1973 - bound sets at $15.00 each
set. 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 at $18.00
each set. PRICES INCLUDE POSTAGE AND
HANDLING. Spiral bound to lay flat. Send
orders to Mary Lilien, 4260 Olympiad Drive,
Los Angeles, CA 90043.
ROLL LEADERS: DUO-ART, Authentic. For
order sheet, see the April 1973 Bulletin. Nick
Jarrett, 3622 21 st street, San Francisco, CA
94114.
BOARD REPRESENTATIVES
N. Cal.: Howie Koff
S. Cal.: Dick Rigg
Texas: Wade Newton
Phil.: Bob Taylor
Midwest: Bill Eicher
SOWNY: Chuck Hannen
Rky. Mt.: Dick Kroeckel
New Jer.: Jeffrey Morgan
Iowa: Alvin Johnson
Boston Area: Sanford Libman
Northern Lights: Trudy Maier
Pres.: Mike Naddeo
Vice Pres. John Berry
Sec.: Dick Price
Treas.: Claire Lambert
Reporter: Allen Ford
SOWNY (So. Ontario, West NY)
Pres.: Jeff Depp
Vice Pres: Bruce Bartholomew
Sec.: Mike Walter
Treas.: Stella Gilbert
Reporter: Jim Brewer
ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Pres.: Robert Moore
Sec.: Sharon Paetzold
Treas.: Carl Paetzold
Reporter: Jere DeBacker
NEW JERSEY
Honorary Members
Alf E. Werolin
2230 Oakdale Rd.
Hillsborough, CA 94010
Archives
Jim Weisenborne
73 Nevada St.
Rochester, MI 48063
IOWA
Pres.: Dale Snyder
Vice Pres.: Stan Peters
Sec/Treas.: Alvin Johnson
Reporter: Richard Parker
BOSTON AREA
AMICA Goals
Robert M. Taylor
1326 Spruce St. #3004
Philadelphia, PA 19107
AFFILIATED SOCIETIES
The Player Piano Group
The North West Player Piano
Association.
Pres.: Alan Pier
Vice Pres.: William Koenigsberg
Sec.: AI Greco
Treas.: Philip Konop
Reporter: Ray Magee
NORTHERN LIGHTS
Pres.: Ron Olsen
Vice Pres.: Gene Skarda
Sec.: Dorothy Olds
Treas.: Trudy Maier
BOOKS:
AMICA STATIONERY: $3.20 (letter size),
Volume I (1969-1971), $5.50 postpaid;
Volume II (1972-1974), $7.50 postpaid,
Volume III (1975-1977), $8.50 postpaid.
Reprints of interesting technical articles
which have appeared in the AMICA Bulletin,
arranged and indexed into appropriate
categories. Send orders to: Jim Weisenborne,
73 Nevada Street, Rochester, MI 48063.
$1.75 (note size), including mailing charges.
Fine quality stationery with ornate AMICA
borders. Each packet contains 25 letters and
matching envelopes. Send orders to: Robert
Lemon, 4560 Green Tree Drive, Sacramento,
CA 94823.
AMICA
TECHNICALITIES
PLEASE MAKE ALL CHECKS PAYABLE TO
AMICA INTERNA TlONAL
'--"
Pres.: Dan Schacher
Vice Pres.: Richard Dearborn
Sec: Richard Groman III
Treas.: Willian Dean
Reporter:
Technical
Mel Luchetti
3449 Mauricia Ave.
Santa Clara, CA 95051
• We recommend display advertisers supply camera-ready copy. Copy that is
oversized or undersized will be changed to correct size at your cost. We can
prepare your advertisement from your suggested layout at cost.
AMICA ITEMS
FOR SALE
Jack & Mary Riffle
5050 Eastside Calpella Rd.
Ukiah, CA 95482
COMMITTEES
• Each photograph or half-tone $5.00
Pres.: Bennet Leedy
Vice Pres.: Jim Prendergast
Sec.: Jim Weisenborne
Treas.: Alvin Wulfekuhl
Reporter: Molly Yeckley
PHILADELPHIA AREA
TREASURER
Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association. a nonprofit club devoted to the restoration. distribution and enjoyment of musical
instruments using perforated paper music rolls.
3%"
MIDWEST
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
(New memberships and
mailing problems)
THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN
7'1z" x 10"
7'1z" x 4'4"
3%" x 10"
Pres: Carole Beckett
Vice Pres.: Sal Mele
Sec/Treas.: Doyle Cassel
Reporter: Kay & Merrill Baltzley
Tom Beckett
681 7 CI iffbrook
Dallas, TX 75240
Continuing Members: SIS Dues
New Members, add SS processing fee
• Displey edvertiling
Full page
One-half page horizontal
One-half page vertical
One-fourth page vertical
TEXAS
PUBLISHER
AMICA MEMBERSHIP RATES:
... ~
--
"They All Laughed When I Sat Down At
The Plano, But When IT Began To Play."
This sound and color super-8 movie,
produced by AMICA members, is available
for loan to AMICA members and chapters.
For more information write to Howard Koff,
2141 Deodara Drive, Los Altos, CA 94022
L
Jnfernafional JlcJKJeJl
I I I
• • •
1980 Dues
I I I
AVISIT WITH ALEXAnDRE TAnSMAn,
HOnORARY MEMBER In FRAnCE
• • •
Dues structure for 1980 will be altered to reflect the
switch to all third class mailing in the United States
for The AMICA. ALL U.S. dues will be $15.00 for
renewals, Canada will remain at first class (U.S.)
postage rates and overseas members will have the
choice of Air First Class or Air Printed as before. An
attempt will be made to provide some sort of
detachable jacket for the Bulletin cover to better
protect the contents in 1980.
BY JOAn B. CHASE
At 3, Rue Blumenthal, on the left bank of the Seine in
Paris, there is a gracious apartment building.
Alexandre Tansman, celebrated composer and
musician, lives in a first floor apartment.
It was a bitterly cold night in December when my niece
and I visited. But the immediate warmth of M.
Tansman's welcome and the vibrant atmosphere of his
living room made us forget the weather instantly-we
felt the radiation of his presence and enthusiasm for
life and music.
DUES NOTICE: Membership Secretary Bobby Clark
will soon be mailing your dues notice via first class
mail (not as a Bulletin insert) in combination with a
form to list your address and collection items for the
upcoming new AMICA Directory. This notice from
Bobby will be your only direct notice for dues and
payments not received by December 31. 1979 will be
considered delinquent. Members not paid by December
31 will receive no "grace period" Bulletins for 1980 so
we urge you attend to your renewal form as soon as it
arrives. Of course, you may renew later in 1980 and
receive back Bulletins to the first issue of the year but
in the interim you will be entirely without Bulletins.
Alexandre Tansman was born in Lodz, Poland in 1897
and he won national prizes for his musical debut at an
early age. After World War I, he began composing
actively and received some training in Paris for three
years. He toured Europe, and his own compositions
were played in all major cities.
.
Cover: Cover design created from an artist's
rendition entitled "Childhood Days" for the
Story & Clark Piano Company (ad ca. 1923).
Contributed by Bill & Dee Kavouras.
INDEX
International AMICA
June Board Meeting
July Membership Meeting
Financial Statement
AMICA Forum
Rolls & Music
Texas
S.O.W.N.Y.
Iowa
Biographical Sketches
Technicalities
151
152
154
155
161
161
163
165
166
169
Alexandre Tansman seated before memorabilia,
including a Japanese citation, signed pictures from
great musicians and photographs with world leaders.
In 1927, M. Tansman made his first visit to the United
States and he toured with the Boston Symphony
Orchestra. During that visit, he made an Ampico roll
in New York of the Scherzo movement of his own
Symphony in A Minor.
171
Original Bulletin articles, or material for
reprint that is of significant historical quality
and interest, are encouraged and will receive
reimbursement in the form of AMICA
membership dues discounts. (Chapter reports
and Forum inquiries are excluded.)
Upon his return to Europe, he again had invitations to
perform in all the major concert halls in the world and
had commissions to compose special works. The rise
of Nazi Germany forced him to leave Europe, with his
family, and he lived in Be~erly Hills, California
- 151 -
is a man of wit, who has interests in every sphere of
the arts and is as at home discussing politics and
history as music. His penetrating intelligence seems
to "dart around" all issues. as do his eyes as he is
speaking. He conveys a sense of excitement. of life.
and of rythmn which is infectious.
between 1941 and 1946. When he returned to Europe. he
made Paris his home.
And then there's the room-each wall covered with
pictures signed by a Rubinstein or a Stern; every
major conductor, world leader. legendary figure in
music represented. There are group photographs
taken at the far reaches of the world. Medals, citations.
gifts of every variety. line every shelf and corner. And,
among these treasures, the AMICA Honorary
Membership Certificate proudly hangs!
M. Tansman at his piano. again showing pictures of
master musicians. My niece. Beth Weinstein, looks
around admiringly.
MAnA·ZUCCA YEAR
AMICA Honorary Member Dr. Mana-Zucca has sent
The AMICA a photocopy of a Proclomation awarded
her by the mayor of Dade County, Florida in which
1979 is proclaimed "Mana-Zucca Year" in honor of her
residence and musical service to the community.
Alexandre Tansman is now a widower. He has two
daughters, one in Italy and one in Paris. He has four
grandchildren. Currently M. Tansman has several
commissions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Society for Contempoary Music in Jerusalem
has invited M. Tansman to write a composition for
orchestra and choir which will have sections of the
Dead Sea Scrolls as text. It will be performed at an
arts festival in Israel, Fall, 1979.
The Polish Radio has invited M. Tansman to write
a Symphonneta for Chamber Orchestra to be
performed in June.
The Japanese Government has commissioned a
symphonic work.
The French State Commission for the Arts is
planning to perform a new Tansman work in Paris
next year.
SPECIAL ISSUE -
-I
.........
---',
Q-I012
Marching With Dixie
Played by the composer,
Frank Adams
Frank Adams
Player devotees know Frank as the pres'
. ident of the Automatic Music Roll Co. of
, Seattle. Discover his talents as a composer and roll artist with this stirring march
honoring Washington governor Dixie Lee
Ray! This roll was actually premiered at
the governor's mansion, to the delight of
assembled dignitaries and V.I.P.'s!
AMICA
BOARD OF REPRESEnTATIVES' MEETInG
Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Philadelphia, PA
29 June 1979
President Rosencrans called the meeting to order at
10:25 a.m.
Board Representatives present:
Bill Eicher
Midwestern
Dick Kroeckel
Rocky Mountain
Sanford Libman
Boston Area
Trudy Maier
Northern Lights
Bob Taylor
Philadelphia
Mary Lilien
"proxy for Dick Rfgg
So. Cal.
Jim Weisenborne,
..
proxy f or Al Johnson ·
Iowa
proxy for Wade Newton
Texas
A menorah presented by the Israeli government in
recognition of M. Tansman's contributions to music.
Those are the "facts" gleaned from the interview. But
it is more important to convey the atmosphere, the
sensations one has in speaking with M. Tansman. He
- 152 -
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter \....-Chapter
,./
William Dean,
proxy for Jeff Morgan
New Jersey Chapter
Alf Werolin
proxy for Howie Koff
No. Cal. Chapter
No representation for SOWNY Chapter
The reverend Victor Zuck, former organ builder and
expert on the Moller Artiste player organ, was
nominated for Honorary Membership. Jim
Weisenborne spoke briefly on the Moller player organ
and Mr. Zuck's participation in its development.
Officers present:
Dr. Rosencrans
Bill Eicher
Robert Clark
Jim Weisenborne
Tom Beckett
MOTION: AU Werolin moved that the Reverend Victor
Zuck be voted an Honoray Membership in AMICA.
Bobby Clark seconded. Motion passed.
President
Vice-President
Membership Secretary
Secretary
Publisher
TREASURER'S REPORT: The report did not arrive in
time for the meeting.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY'S REPORT: President
Rosencrans introduced Bobby Clark to the Board. He
was unamiously elected Membership Secretary by a
mail vote taken of officers and Board Representatives.
Bobby reported that as of June 27 we had a total of 1072
members. He also recommended that a separate
notification be sent to delinquent members.
Discussion ensued. A new membership roster will be
compiled soon and the appropriate forms will be sent
to the membership.
Officer absent:
Mary Riffle, Treasurer - proxy assigned to Jim
Weisenborne
MOTION: Bob Taylor moved that the Board Minutes
from the San Antonio Board Meeting be approved as
published in the Bulletin. Dick Kroeckel seconded.
Motion passed.
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORT: All Bulletin
technical articles for the last three years have been
published in Technicalities III. New technical
material will be handled as suggested by the Goals
Committee. The Technical Committee has given the
nod to Ed Hayden for the restoration of instruments at
San Simeon. All inquiries concerning technical
matters have either been answered or referred to
people who have expertise in specific areas.
MOTION: Bobby Clark moved that a DUES notice be
published, starting with the October Bulletin.
Delinquent members would receive no more Bulletins
after December, and after January 10 they would be
mailed a reminder notice. Bill Eicher seconded. Motion
passed.
SALE PRICE OF AMICA SILVER PINS:
AUDIO VISUAL COMMITTEE REPORT: A cassette
tape of the Charles Cooper Program was played (in
part) for the Board. The running time of the tape, the
reproduction cost estimates, including the blank tape,
printed insert card with the AMICA San Francisco
logo, and stickers on the tape cassette were presented
to the Board. Regarding the San Francisco Convention
movie, work is still progressing on it. The titles should
be completed soon, and the target date for completion
is still September 1979.
MOTION: Bob Taylor moved that the silver AMICA
pins sell for $8.50 each. Sandy Libman seconded.
Motion passed.
GOALS COMMITTE REPORT: Bob Taylor briefly
discussed the $500 maximum grant that could be
requested by each chapter for the purpose of
presenting public oriented programs.
MOTION: Bob Taylor moved the adoption of the
procedures outlined by his committee in a letter of 30
March 1979 for granting money to chapters for
educational purposes. Mary Lilien seconded. Motion
passed.
MOTION: Bill Eicher moved that 50 cassettes at a total
cost of $210 be made of the Charles Cooper tape. Dick
Kroeckel seconded. Motion passed.
HONORARY MEMBERS COMMITTEE: Alf Werolin
reported that we have currently 39 Honorary
Members. In January, Guiomar Novaes Pinto, a DuoArt recording artist, passed away. The Committee has
tried to contact the following artists: but has had no
success. AMICAns are requested to supply a valid
address or suggest how we can convince any of these
artists to accept Honorary Membership. The list is:
Robert Goldsand
Richard Rogers
Liberace
Rube Bloom
Naleen Roehm
Alex Steinhart
Werner Jensen
Anix. Fuleihan
George McManus
Edie Hansen
./ Nadia Reisenberg
Gertrude Huntley
Homer Nearing
FOUNDATION REPORT: Dick Reutlinger discussed
the Automatic Music Foundation's search for a new
museum location, preferably in a heavier travelled
area. He also mentioned tours given to student groups
in the museum, two rebuilding projects on pianos, a
nickelodeon loaned for a public function, and tours
given of his own residence.
PUBLISHER'S REPORT: There was a lengthy
discussion about the lack of articles being submitted
to the Bulletin, the possibility of reducing the number
of issues, the use of a mail service, and the elemination
of special class mailing.
A. Valerio
Edith Baker
Alexander Brailowsky
Clarence Fuhrman
Vladimir Horowitz
Jose Iturbi
Howard Lutter
Rudolph Serkin
Ernie Golden
George Wellington
Annette Franis
George Smith
MOTION: INCENTIVE FOR CONTRIBUTING
ARTICLES TO THE BULLETIN- Bill Eicher moved
that any member who wishes to submit articles, as per
the guidelines set by the Publisher of the AMICA
Bulletin, will receive a voucher worth 1/3 of the
current year's dues. The contributor may receive up to
- 153 -
3 vouchers, leading to a free membership. All articles
must be original. This incentive will be on a one year
trial basis. Bobby Clark seconded. Motion passed.
TREASURER'S REPORT: The report did not arrive in
time for the meeting. It will be included in the Bulletin
write-up of the Minutes.
First class mailing of the Bulletin. There was
considerable discussion about raising the dues to
cover first class mailing. A straw vote was taken and
first class mailing was favored. It was agreed to
present this to the membership meeting for a vote.
ARCHIVE'S REPORT: Inquiries are being made at
the appropriate agency in Sacramento, California to
have photocopies made of the articles of incorporation
for AMICA.
TECHNICAL COMMITTE REPORT: Jim Weisenborne
read the report submitted by Chairman Mel Luchetti.
Basically, Technicalities III is now available, work is
progressing on the restoration of instruments at San
Simeon under the aegis of Ed Hayden, and all letters
concerning technical matters have been answered or
referred to the appropriate people.
NEW BUSINESS: William Dean conveyed the New
Jersey Chapter's concern about not having partial
registrations at the Philadelphia Meeting. A
discussion followed and Vice-President Eicher agreed
to write an explanation to the New Jersey Chapter.
New Jersey wanted a national policy or directive in
this matter.
A UDIO VISUAL COMMITTEE REPORT: Jim
Weisenborne read the report from Howie Koff. Work
continues on the San Francisco Convention film. The
film should be ready by September. Cost estimates
were given for the reproduction of the cassettes of the
Charles Cooper tapes.
MOTION; New Jersey Chapter Grant. Bill Eicher
moved that up to $500 be granted the New Jersey
Chapter for their Ernest Schelling program,
tentatively set for October 21, 1979. Bob Taylor
seconded. Motion passed.
PUBLISHER'S REPORT: Tom Beckett requested
color photos, etc., that could be used for the covers of
the Bulletin, in particular, a Christmas cover. He
informed the membership of the Board's decision to
try a one year incentive plan to encourage members to
submit articles to the Bulletin. He will issue
guidelines shortly. After a discussion among the
membership concerning the use of a mail service and
the problem of special class mailing, the following
motion was made:
MOTION: Rocky Mountain Chapter Grant. Bob Taylor
moved that up to $500 be granted the Rocky Mountain
Chapter for a dedication program for the restored
Knabe reproducing piano at the governor's mansion in
Denver, Colorado. Dick Kroeckel seconded. Motion
passed.
CHAPTER REPORTS: Publisher Tom Beckett
reminded the Board Representatives that 4 chapter
reports must be submitted to the Bulletin per year
from each chapter. Board Representatives were
strongly urged to remind their chapter reporters about
this.
MOTION: Ted Miholovich moved that the Bulletins be
mailed Third Class. Gloria Taylor seconded. Motion
passed.
MCGROARTY CULTURAL CENTER: Mary Lilien
thanked the Board for its financial support regarding
the McGroarty Cultural Center's Franklin Ampico
reproducing piano which the Southern California
Chapter restored. A formal dedication program took
place June 10th.
GOALS COMMITTEE REPORT: Bob Taylor
introduced the members of his committee: Carole
Beckett, Bobby Clark, Bob Moore, and Dick Reutlinger.
Bob solicited ideas from the membership for long
range goals.
HONORARY MEMBERS COMMITTEE: Alf Werolin
named the members of his committee: Bill Knorp and
Emmett Ford. Alf reported that we have currently 39
Honorary Members. A new member, Victor Zuck, was
voted an Honorary Member by the Board. Help was
requested from the membership in locating former
recording artists or people who helped in a technical
way.
Jim Weisenborne moved adjournment. Bobby Clark
seconded. Meeting adjourned at 12:20 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
JIM WEISENBORNE
Secretary
FOUNDATION REPORT: Dick Reutlinger spoke for
the Automatic Music Foundationn. He talked about the
Foundation's search for a new location for its museum,
the tours given to student groups, the loan of a
nickelodeon for publicity purposes, two rebuilding
projects on pianos, and Dick's own house that is used
for tours.
MinUTES OF
THE OEnERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETlnO
Benjamin Franklin Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
3 July 1979
President Rosencrans called the meeting to order at
8:30 a.m.
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY'S REPORT: Bobby
Clark, the new Membership Secretary, was introduced.
As of June 27, 1979, he reported that we have 1072
members. Work has begun on a new membership
roster and members will receive forms to fill out for
the listing of instruments, addresses, etc.
MOTION: Bob Taylor moved that the minutes of the
General Membership Meeting held at Dayton, Ohio be
approved as published in the Bulletin. Dick Merchant
- 154 -
"-
BOARD MINUTES: Jim Weisenborne, Secretary,
summarized the Board Minutes of June 29, 1979,
MCGROARTY CULTURAL CENTER RESTORATION
PROJECT: Mary Lilien gave a review of the
restoration of the Franklin Ampico reproducing piano
by the Southern California Chapter. She also informed
everyone that the 1980 AMICA CONVENTION will be
held in Pasadena at the Huntington Hotel on 5-8 June
FinAnCIAL STATEMEnT of
AMICA InTERIIATIOnAl
January 1, '1979 through May 31, 1979
1980. (Editor's note: late news information has this
date revised and moved to June 25-29)
CHECKBOOK BALANCE 1/ 1/79
Savings Account Balance 1/1/79
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER PROJECT: Dick
Kroeckel spoke about his chapter's dedication
program of a Knabe reproducing piano in the
governor's mansion in Denver, Colorado, tentatively
set for an evening the last week in September.
CASH RECEIPTS:
NEW JERSEY CHAPTER PROJECT: Bill Dean said
that his chapter, in conjunction with a local historical
society and musical group, is planning a soiree
dealing with the pianist, Ernest Schelling. This will
take place in October.
NORTHERN LIGHTS CHAPTER: President
Rosencrans presented a plaque to the Northern Lights
Chapter President, Ron Olsen, recognizing our newest
chapter. Board Representative Trudy Maier and
Treasurer, Dorothy Olsen were introduced.
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING FOR 1981: Tom
Beckett said that the Texas Chapter will sponsor this
meeting in Dallas in October of 1981.
Jim Weisenborne moved adjournment. Mary Lilien
Respectfully submitted
JIM WEISENBORNE
Secretary
Membership dues
Film
Regular Bulletin
Bound Bulletin
Technicalities
Leaders
Pins
Stationery
Advertising
Convention (Dayton)
Other Income:
Labels
Stock & stock dividends
TOTAL
$ 9,957.42
10,953.26
$12,021.53
50.00
1.40
00.00
228.50
00.00
00.00
00.00
977.66
241.96
75.00
701.47
$14,297.52
$24,254..94
CASH DISBURSEMENTS:
Bulletin
$ 9,600.00
Bound Bulletin
00.00
Technicalities
00.00
Printing & paper
16.67
Telephone
503.54
Stamps & postage
341.64
Accounting & tax
100.27
Supplies
33.78
Foilm
353.59
Convention
OQOO
(CONVENTION FUND $2,163.34)
Advertising
00.00
Other Expenses:
508.63
Pins
27.62
Flowers for Honoraries
Withdrawal for
7,000.00
Savings Acct.
56.00
Extra clerical help
TOTAL
$18,541.74
CHECKBOOK BALANCE OF 5/31/79
Plus Savings Account with
interest of 3/16/79
$5,713.20
$5713.20
$18,148.15
Respectfully submitted,
MARY C. RIFFLE
Treasurer
Independence Hall.
Top to bottom-left:
Dick Kroeckel entertains in the lobby.
Steve Johnson looks over sale items.
Enjoying the champagne reception after the
Longwood Gardens concert.
Gathering 'round the player on the river cruise boat.
Top to Bottom -left:
Bill Edgerton shows his Pianocorder equipped
harpsichord to Mary Lilien and Bonnie Tekstra.
AMICAns enjoy their own walking tour of
Philadelphia in pleasant weather.
Steady activity at the Mart.
- 156 -
'--
ALOST WORLD RECALLED
*
* *
* * *
Songwriter in London after 50 years
By ROBERT MUSEL
LONDON (UPI) - "The last time
I stood here," said Louis Alter, "was
50 years ago,"
He was in the cDUrtyard of St. James
Palace looking up at the windows of
what once was the apartment of the
Prince of Wales, long bef~1'e the crown
prince Edward met an American divorcee and died in self-exile in France
as the Duke of Windsor,
"The prince liked to play the drumc;,
you know," said Alter, "He used to
ask me to come along an<l pLay the
piano to his beat. The windows look
empty now but they were always blazing with lights in those days, They are
all gone, aTen't they? The prince and
all his beau·tiful peol'le,"
This is a sentimental journey for
Alter, 74, who toured Britain in 1923,
1924 and 1926 as accompanist to the
greatest singer of her time, NQra Bayes,
before he went on to fame himself as
& songwriter,
He composed the enduring symphonic jazz classic "Manhattan Serenade" at the request of Paul Whiteman
and a string of hits for Frank Sinatra,
LOUIS Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Bea
Lillie, Joan Crawford, Fannie Brice.
Somehow, although his career really
started here and he always planned
to come back, the <leca<le!; slipped by
while he worked mainly in his New
York apartment with fairly un·
diminished creativity.
"Is Kim Manchester around?" he
3sked. "He was a il'erat friend of mine,"
The Duke of Manchester, he was
told, now lives in Kenya.
"Well," he said "I won't ask about
Jack Buchanan or Gertrude Lawrence.
They're gone.
"I would have liked to have seen Noel
Coward, He used to beg me to get him
an 'appoin tment with Nora so he could
play her his songs. 1 liked him and especially the way he wrote so 1 arranged
the meeting and that was his staTt as
a songwriter."
Alter <:a'Utioned against a "tear
stained" report cf his visit,
"I've always been worlmng." he sald.
"I've just finished the music for Budd
SChulberg's dramatization of his 'The
Disenchanted' about F. Scott Fitzgera'fd.
Budd's working on the lyrics so I took
the opportunity to see whether anyone
of the old gang was still around in
London."
Itt May, Alter was elected to the song·
writers hall of fame, the ultimate honor
of hios craft, and recalling this brollght
forth a flood of memories: Playing jazz
with violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz,
writing "My Kind of Love" for the audition that won Bing Crosby his first film
contract, President Franklin D, Roosevelt confiding that "Home on the
Range" wasn't nis favorite song-it was
Alter's ''Twilight on the n·ail."
Alter said he -liked the best of rock
and of any other new music.
"There's only o{le yardstick," he said,
"and it was as valid in Beethoven's time
as it is U1 the era of the BeatIes. Music
is good music or it's bad music."
The Queen's 'Top 250'
LONDON - lAP) - A disc jockey,
a.drama teacher at a jail, the director
of the British Piano Museum and the
man who prescribed a trendy pair of
glasses for Queen Elizabeth II were
among 250 persons honored by their
monarch today.
As is traditional, top civil servants,
politicians, businessmen and industrialists made up the bulk of the list of
honors and awards. But the honorees
also included a waitl'ell8, a crime reporter, a poetess- and a violin bow
maker.
The director of the National AntiWaste Program. the secretary of the
Anti-8lavery Society, the Woman of
the Bedchamber to Elizabeth the
Queen Mother, and the manager of
the queen's Thoroughbred. raeeborse
breeding stable were also in the list.
Although it is known as the
queen's honors, in fact tbe list is
drawn up by the government to reward merit, outstanding achievement
and political eervices. The names are
then presentecl to the queen as a liSt
of recomme~dations.She traditionally
does not questioo it.
It is the first honors list by Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher's govern·
ment since her Conservatives won
,.,... iD tile )lay it 1Ieet'ioB, It marD
the queen's offICIal 53rd birthday today.
Elizabeth's real blrtbday is April
21, but the weather then is. often too
cold for outdoor celebrations. So she
has an official birthday after the return of better weather,
Mrs. Diana Neave, widow of assassinated politician Airey Neave, was
made a life peer. Neave, one of Mrs.
Thatcher:s. closes~ political advisers
and slated to be ber Northern Ireland
secretary. was killed by a terrorist
bomb Marcb 30 in a car park at the
House of Commons.
Disc jockey Jimmy Young, who has
interviewed Mrs. Thatcher on his British Broadcasting Corp. programs, becomes an Officer of the British Empire. Composer Sir Michael Tippett,
74, becomes a Companion of lIonor.
The Queen's oculist, Sir Stephen
Miller, who designed the stylish fullmoon glasses she occasionally wears
for reading in public, becomes a
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. Mrs. Nellie Jolliffe, a
waitress at Buckingijam Palace garden parties, received the Royal Victorian Medal.
Robert BerrY, director of the Na·
tional Anti-Waste ProglUl, and poe.
- 157 -
tress Ruth Pitter became Commanaers of the British Empire. Col. John
Montgomery, secretary of the AntiSlavery Society, becomes an Officer
of the British Empire.
Violin bow maker Arthur Bultj.
tude; John Haerem, drama teacher at
Wormwood Scrubs jail; Frank Hal,
land, director of the BrItIsh Plano
Museum, and crIme reporter Ernest
Horatio Nelson Sullivan of the Lon·
don Evening Standard were named
Members of the British Empire.
Dowager Baroness Femoy, who
holds the honorary post of Woman of
the Bedchanger to Elizabeth the
Queen Mother, becomes a Dame
Commander of the Royal Vlctoriao
Order. William Oswald, manager of
the Queen's horse race breeding sta·
ble, becomes a Member. 4th class, of
the order.
The list was the second this week.
On Tuesday the queen ennobled six
former Labor Party leaders and made
former Chancellor of the Exchecquer
Denis Healy a Companion of Honor itt
a list of 48 persons put forward br.
former Prime Minister James Ca .
lagban to mark his exit from office.
Callaghan's chauffeur, chef and
cleaniDg woman got lesser hODors.
Who teaches the music teacher?
IN MUSIC, AS IN EVERY PROFESSION, THE LEADERS ARE THE LEf\RNERS.
THE GREATEST TEACHERS ARE THOSE WHO NEVER C EASE TO BE STUDENTS.
From "The Etude". October. 1924.
Contributed by Doyle Cassel.
Y
ETwhatopportunityforstudy
has the busy music teacher?
His days are filled. with lesson
hours. His own practice time is
barely enough to keep a precarious
hold upon his hard-won repertoire.
Ten years ago, these difficulties
were insurmountable. Today, the
Ampico has made it possible for
every music teacher to be as
thoroughly at home in the world
of music as the well-read English
teacher is in the world of letters.
that will let them see the future
reward of their daily drilling on
scales and exercises.
The Ampico is living music. To
the fine instrument is added the
interpretations of great artists in a
library of recordings that includes
the world's treasury of music. Nor
is this library a collection of printed
scores-mere symbols of music. It
is music itself-the composer's message come to immortal life at an
artist's touch.
What the Ampico is
Only a musician can enjoy
the Ampico fully
In appearance, the Ampico is simply a beautiful piano-bearing one
The more delicate your ear, the
of seven famous makers' namesfiner the Ampico seems. For that
Chickering, Knabe, Fischer, Mar'
reason, trained musicians gain the
greatest joy from the perfection of
shall &' Wendell, Haines Bros.,
the Ampico's performance. ThouFranklin; and in Canada, theWillis
sands of musicians have discovered
also. These are names of enviable
that an Ampico recording of an
fame. For generations they have
artist's playing is identical with
stood for instruments of quality.
Though hundreds of miles fr~m concert halls, the teacher may yet be
that artist's playing on the concert
(For example, note that the Chick,
dose to the great musIC of the world
stage, but not one of them could
ering and the Knabe are two of the
believe it until he had heard the
four great pianos in general use
Ampico.
on the American concert stage.)
But the Arnpico is more than a fine piano. The teacher may study the methods of the
Hear the Ampico!
Within the piano case is concealed a mirac, masters-for, through the Ampico, they
You
must
hear
the Ampico at once, if you
ulous device. At the pushing of a button, will play for him, whenever, whatever, and
have
not
already
discovered it. Any dealer
the strings will sing beneath the touch of as often as he likes. For the study of special
great artists. In your studio, perhaps hun- points of technique-pedaling, phrasing, handling any of the pianos mentioned above
dreds of miles from the famous concert halls, touch-he may retard the tempo and gain will be glad to have you hear the Ampico
Rachmaninoff will play his own Prelude in exact knowledge that can be had by no other at his store.
If you are not near a store where the
C Sharp Minor; Artur Schnabel, an author, means. Just as slow-motion pictures reveal
ity on Bach, will give you his celebrated the secret of movements too rapid for the Ampico is sold, or if you want to know
interpretation of the Italian Concerto; or eye to catch-so does slow-motion music more about the Ampico before hearing it,
Lhevinne may reveal the poetry of a on the Ampico make scientifically clear tech- write to the address below. You will receive
Chopin nocturne. Yet this same piano is nical details that the ear finds difficult to a booklet descriptive of the Ampico and
information about where you may hear it.
not altered in any detail of its construction. catch otherwise.
When the playing device is not in use, it
The teacher who owns an Ampico can offer
Exchange your piano for an Ampico
does not touch the strings, or even the keys. his pupils a wealth of musical experience
What the Ampico can do for you
The inspiration that an Ampico can
bring to a music studio is limited only
by the vision of the teacher himself.
C9~Al\;1 PIT C0
THE AMPICO CORPORATION' 437 FIFTH AVENUE
..o.K(!).---
Any piano that you now own will entitle
you to an allowance in buying an Ampico.
The dealer will also be glad to make conve'
nient terms of monthly payments. Foot power
models $795. Electric models $985 to $5000.
NEW YOR.K.
---------.@'u..
~
A few of the hundreds of artists the Ampico brings to you
RlCHARD BUHLIG
TERESA CARRENO
JULIUS CHALOFF
JAN CHIAPUSSO
..<>-<9. GEORGE COPELAND
ERNO DOHNANYI
LEOPOLD GODOWSKY
PHILLIP GORDON
MARK HAM BOURG
VINCENT D'INDY
ETHEL LEGINSKA
MISCHA LEVITZKI
JOSEF LHEVINNE
YOLANDA MERO
BENNO ~'OISEIWITSCH
ELL Y NEY
ERWIN NYIREGYHAZI
LEO ORNSTEIN
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
MORIZ ROSENTHAL
AR THUR RUBINSTEIN
OLGA SAMAR OFF
E. ROBERT SCHMITZ
ARTUR SCHNABEL
GERMAINE SCHNITZER
SILVIO SCIONT!
HENRY SOUVAINE
RICHARD STRAUSS
MILTON SUSIC/ND
FANNIE BLOOMFIELD ZEISLEA
.@Jonoo
--
THE
14
MUSIC
TRADE
MAY 30, 1925
REVIEW
Hear the Great Artists and
Popular Pianists Play Through
Welte-Mignon*
In Parlor 472-Drake Hotel
Of course you have heard about, if not actually heard, the
famous Welte-Mignon* Reproducing Action. But have
you listened to its faithful portrayal of the works of your
favorite composer? His work may be heard at the Convention. In fact, the music of all the great masters may
be heard as played by all the greatest pianists of the last
two dec a des. Paderewski, Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler,
Schelling, Busoni, Grieg, De Pachmann, Hofmann, SaintSaens, George Liebling, Leff Pouishnoff, Magdeleine Brard
and over two hundred others.
It will be worth your while to visit the Welte-Mignon*
display in Parlor 472. You will see there specimens of
the wonderful advertising now being conducted throughout the entire nation. Also the type of service that the
Advertising department of the Welte-Mignon* offers to
its dealers.
THE
MASTER'S
Auto Pneumatir Action Co.
W. C. Heaton,
FINGERS
ON
YOUR
PIANO'
653 W. 51s1 SI., N. Y.
Pre,~.
* Licensed under the
original 'Velte Patent!'>
A Loud Speaker
In
the Piano
By G. S. Bennage, Marionville, Missouri
ZI S we all know, the sound board is
Vl. capable of receiving and giving out a
multitude of sounds at the same time.
It will receive and give out with clearness
the tones of a full orchestra, even the bass
tones.
The magnet shown in the diagram was
taken from a telephone, and the coils from
an Adler-Royal speaker. The coils from
any speaker will serve the purpose. Care
must be taken in removing them as the wires
are easily broken.
Mount the coils on a brass holder and
fasten tin strips to the cores of the coils to
connect with the magnet. Bend the strips
as shown, and fasten securely with tape.
The wires f rom the coils should be held in
place on the brass plate by two separate binding posts, or bolts. However, if the wires
from the coils are fastened in the same way
:iUPPORT OM BACk'
OF PIA /'to
TIN
as they were on the speaker there should
be no trouble.
Cut a round hole in the sound board and
over it fasten securely, with shellac and
bolts, a metal disk. Fasten the magnet with
a clamp to the post on the back nf the pianu
and it is ready to furnish some real radio
entertainment.
The unit must be placed at an ~xact distance from the metal disk. Usually the best
place to put the unit is between the bridges,
as near the center of the sound board as
possible. After the place has been found
which gives the best result, clamp the unit
as tightly as possible, as it will not neetl
further adjusting.
The magnet shown uses no more current
than an ordinary speaker, but it takes at least
a five-tube radio set to work it properly.
CONNEC'7
STRIP..5,--.... 11
C.OILS rROM .sPE.RKER
.
-SOUND P,ORRD
4:1
7
METAL DIS
- 160 -
,~\
I~I-~S
Igualada (Zuera)
Amp 62113H / Victor Album M-178
Jlmica c70rum
~~_·~~~~~5~~~E:-~~
Malaguena (Albeniz)
Amp 66513H / Victor Album M -178
Echaniz, Jose
Cuban Rhapsody (Echaniz)
Amp 67183 / Columbia 142M
InFORMATion nEEDED
Fairchild, Edgar & Ralph Rainger
Queen High Selections
Amp 69913 / Victor 20435
I was referred to AMICA by Mr. Gregor Banko and
would be most grateful if the following information,
which is needed for a work that I am writing called
"Chopin and His Interpreters" could be supplied by
someone. The information I am seeking is:
Gh Kay Selections
Amp 67343 / Victor 20435
The dates of death of:
Friml, Rudolph
Amour Coquet (Friml)
Amp 66513 / Victor 9649
Franz-Wald Erdody (the last pupil of Liszt).
Marie Rozburska-Leschetizky (the fourth wife of the
famous teacher).
Donimirska Benislavska-Leschetizky (the third wife
of the teacher).
Tina Lerner (the famous Russian pianist and pupil of
Godowsky).
Alice Ehlers (the harsichordist pupil of Leschetizky).
Godowsky, Leopold
Waltz, Gp. 42 A-Flat Major (Chopin)
Amp 51554 / Columbia A5791
Levitzki, Mischa
Etude, Gp. 10, #5 G-Flat Major (Chopin)
Amp 57982 / Columbia 7008M
It is possible that the last two named ladies are still
living, but I would like confirmation of this.
La Jongleuse (Moszkowski)
Amp 59901H / Columbia 7008M
My researches, which have been fairly extensive, have
proved fruitless in this respect. Any help will be most
appreciated: James Methuen-Campbell, 60 Rothschild
Road, London W4 5HT, England.
Hungarian Rhapsody #6 (Lizst)
Amp 57437 / Columbia A6232
Schmitz, E. Robert
Golliwogs Cakewalk (Debussy)
Amp 66621 / Edison 80890
Sims, Lee
Me and My Shadow
Amp 208973F / Brunswick 3617
I'm Coming Virginia
Some of These Days
MORE InSTAnT
COMPARison conCERT
Meditation
Amp 68761E / Brunswick 3764
Rubinstein, Artur
La Cathedrale Engloute (Debussy)
Amp 57665H / Victor 36289
BY roM HAWTHORn
If the same old rolls are getting you down, try doing
your own Instant Comparison Concert. In the
September 1975 issue of the Bulletin, I listed over 100
duplications of reproducing roll artists making the
same selection on a phonograph record at about the
same time. The following listing is an addition to the
article, along with some corrections on record
numbers, All you have to do is be lucky enough to find
one of these 78 rpm relics, wind up the Victrola next to
your paino and - Instant Comparison Concert!
Triana (Albeniz)
I've also located the record number for Ampico 60001H
- Polish Dance (Scharwenka). It is Columbia A5260,
DUO-ART
AMPICO
Dietrich-Hollinshead, Ursula
Echo D'Amour (Hollingshead)
DA S-32258 / Edison 52393
Copeland, George
Afternoon of a Faun (Debussy)
Godowsky, Leopold
Nocturne in E-Flat (Chopin)
DA 5771-3 / Columbia A5485
- 161 -
References:
Columbia Catalogs 1915, 1919, 1923, 1929.
Edison Catalogs 1928, 1929 dealer supplement.
Victor Catalog 1936.
Gondoliera in G-Flat (Henselt)
Grainger, Percy
Country Gardens (Grainger)
My thanks to Alan Muller for a major share of these
additional listings. If anyone out there has some more
to add to the list, I would be glad to hear from you.
Between my original list and this supplement, I have
nearly 150 duplications of rolls and records. I'm sure
there are many more available, and I'll keep a current
list as more research material becomes available to
me. Tom Hawthorn, 12922 Kennedy Circle, Salinas,
Calif. 93906. (408) 449-5285.
Flower Waltz Paraphrase (Tchaikowsky-Grainger)
Wedding Day at Troldhaugen (Grieg)
Molly on the Shore (Grainger)
Spoon River (Grainger)
DA 66170 / Columbia A3685
_
onE TIME OFFER
Gum Suckers March (Grainger)
BY roM HAWTHORII
Turkey in the Straw (Guion)
This is for those of you who are interested in direct
comparison of rolls and records but have no source of
the original records. Below is a list of the roll titles and
artists for which I have records for comparison. I can
transfer these to cassette tape with good quality
filtering equipment to reduce surface noise and
scratch. I would be happy to make up a tape from your
selection of titles, if I don't get too swamped with
requests. Since this is definitely not a commercial
venture, but rather a one-time project, I would like to
have all requests mailed to me by the end of the month
in which you receive this bulletin. Please include $5.00
for each six selections to cover the cost of tape and
return postage. Tom Hawthorn, 12922 Kennedy Circle,
Salinas, CA 93906.
One More Day, My John (Grainger)
Cradle Song (Brahms)
DA 67180 / Columbia A3685
Shepards Hey (Grainger)
Hofmann, Josef
Berceuse (Chopin)
Rondo Capriccioso (Mendelssohn)
AMPICO
Valse in A-Flat, Op. 34, #1 (Chopin)
Roy Bargy
Alfred Cortot
Leopold Godowsky
Mischa Levitzki
S. Rachmaninoff
Pianoflange
Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (Liszt)
Waltz in C-Sharp Minor (Chopin)
Valse in A (Levitzki)
Liebeslied (Kreisler)
Minuet from L'Arlesienne (Bizet)
Polka de W. R. (Rachmaninoff)
Prelude in C-Sharp Minor (Rach.)
Prelude in G Minor (Rach.)
Serenade Op. 3, NO.5 (Rach.)
Were I a Bird (Henselt)
Spinning Song (Mendelssohn)
Troika (Tschaikowsky)
Valse in E-Flat, Op. 18 (Chopin)
Valse Op. 40, #8 (Tschaikowsky)
Etude Tableau (Rachmaninoff)
Hopak (Moussorgsky)
Liebesfreud (Kreisler)
Turkish March (Beethoven)
Wandering (Schubert-Liszt)
Olga Samaroff
Turkish March (Beethoven)
E. Robert Schmitz La Cathedrale Engloute
(Debussy)
Fairchild & Rainger Queen High Selections
Oh Kay Selections
Amour Coquet (Friml)
Rudolph Friml
Valse Caprice (Rubinstein)
Tarentella (Liszt)
Horowitz, Vladimir
Variations on Themes from Carmen (Bizet-Horowitz)
DA 72504 / Victor 1327
Iturbi, Jose
Sonata in A Major (Mozart)
DA 7385-4, 73890, 73939 / Victor 11593, 11594
Perkins, Ray
March of the Mannikins (Onivas)
DA 19095 / Edison 51192
The following record numbers have been located for
Duo-Art:
7083 - Sheep and Goat Walkin' to Pasture (Guion)
- Columbia 7134-M.
6240 - Maid With the Flaxen Hair (Debussy) - Victor
10-1198.
5637 - Polish Dance (Scharwenka) - Columbia A5260.
- 162 -
'-
Lee Sims
Artur Rubinstein
/
'T
Me and My Shadow
I'm Coming Virginia
Some of These Days
Meditation
La Cathedrale Engloute
(Debussy)
Triana (Albeniz)
crezas
BAnD ORBAn TREAT AT THE BEnnETT'S
DUO-ART
Felix Arndt
Harold Bauer
/
Nola
Fantasie Impromptu Op. 66
(Chopin)
Rudolph Ganz
Fifth Mazurka (Godard)
Voices of Spring (Sinding)
Liebestraum #3 (Liszt)
George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue (Andante only)
Paderewski
Hark, Hark the Lark
(Sch ubert- Liszt)
Minuet (Paderewski)
Butterfly Etude (Chopin)
Military Polonaise (Chopin)
Nocturne in B-Flat Op. 16 #4
(Paderewski)
Hungarian Rhapsody #10 (Liszt)
Impromptu in A-Flat, Op. 142,
No.2 (Schubert)
Reflets Dans L'Eau (Debussy)
Ray Houston
In a Woodland Glade
Carlos Valderrama Peruvian Triste (Valderrama)
E. Robert Schmitz Maid with the Flaxen Hair
(Debussy)
Percy Grainger
Sheep and Goat Walkin'to the
Pasture (Guion)
Spoon River (Grainger)
Cradle Song (Brahms)
Josef Hofmann
Berceuse (Chopin)
Rondo Capriccioso (Mendelssohn)
Valse in A-Flat, Op. 34, NO.1
(Chopin)
BY roM BECKETT
August 12 found a high percentage of Texas AMICAns
enjoying a privileged look (and listen) to some rarely
seen-in Texas anyway-larger American and
European orchestrions and band organs. Ron and Pat
Bennett were our hosts for this magnificent treat and
the advance publicity and whispered allusions to what
treasures Ron had in his huge air conditioned private
museum/shop as well as his house was partly
responsible for the large turnout at the Bennet ranch
just outside of Plano, Texas. As an aside I might
mention that the Bennets are pretty successful with
their show horse activities too, as the 200-plus
trophies that fill the main house will attest.
Admittedly, this writer leans far more towards
automatic musical instruments and so obtained little
further information as to the equine side of the Bennett
hobby.
ARTECHO
Felix Arndt
Harold Bauer
Nola
Etude in D-Flat (Liszt)
Prophet Bird (Schumann)
RECORDO
O. Gabrilowitsch
Shepards Hey (Grainger)
All you Welte, Artrio, Angelus, Hupfeld, Phillips, etc.
people out there - why don't you get busy and see if
you can find a few duplications on your own pianos? I
have no catalogs or any ready information for artists
recording for these makes - I'm sure a lot waits to be
discovered.
The H. Voight organ outside the museum building.
Ron's personal collection was temporarily abbetted by
the inclusion of several large European band organs
on display and for sale by a recently acquired
collection by Wallace MacPeak. These included a very
large H. Voight book operated fairground organ
housed in an open sided trailer that was set up and
playing outside Ron's museum building. Inside the
museum were several more large units from the
MacPeak collection as the accompanying photographs
will attest.
The Bennett's main residence contains a Marshall &
- 163 -
Wendell Ampico A, a Seeburg KT originally from a
speakeasy in Rockford, Illinois and found mostly in
parts in a barrel and then reconstructed by Ron with
the inclusion of carefully copied new case parts of oak
and new art glass. The living room also houses a
double roll player Robert Morton 39A Theater Organ
which Ron demonstrated for us. The Marshall and
Wendell was also originally found in poor conditiongutted to be exact. Between Bill Flynt and Don Bryant,
the necessary parts were obtained and the piano
rebuilt.
"-
A short business meeting was held by president
Carole Beckett with most of the discussion centering
around planning details for the October meeting to be
held in Lubbock, Texas hosted by Noble Stidham and
Mechanical Systems, Inc. Ron Bennet also gave a
short talk on the history of some of his collection.
Ron Bennet and Jerry Bacon observe the dual roll
theatre organ in action.
We all adjourned to the spacious museum/workshop
designed by Ron for viewing, listening, refreshments
and a movie. Bill Flynt played for the showing of the
silent "Dizzy Heights and Daring Hearts" on Ron's
Style 25 American Fhotoplayer. Other instruments
around the walls included a: (partial listing) Wurlitzer
IX with roll changer, Weber UNIKA with solo violin,
Phillips PICO, Wurlitzer Organette style W,
Koenigsberg (Poppers roll) with DeCap case, Imof &
Mukle Valkrie Wurlitzer Mandolin PianOrchestra 28B,
a Robert Morton 6 rank theatre organ (plus piano,
xylophone, etc.) that sounded larger than 6 ranks, and
more. We didn't get to hear everything (some items
still under restoration) but those we did experience
were first time treats for many of us.
The food and the punch was as enjoyable as the music
fare and rapidly consumed. The instrument collection
one could spend days pouring over and I am sure Ron
and Pat will be asked to host us again soon. We thank '----
- 164 -
/
rooms and getting warmed up. (it is still quite cold this
time of year on a motorcycle) our group enjoyed a
quick lunch at Lums. The rest of the afternoon was
spent exploring the Roehl's collection. There certainly
is quite a bit to see. Harvey gave an instrument by
instrument history and the background on how it
became part of this famous collection. The highlight is
the 57-key Gavioli Fairground organ. The restoration
of this instrument is superb. It would be easy to ramble
on for paragraphs on this organ alone. A history of the
restoration on this organ can be found in the current
Vestal Press catalogue.
them for their kind hospitality and unique
entertainment.
Seeburg KT in the main house.
Getting ready to start the show. L. to r: front-Harvey
Roehl, Pat & Laverne Griffith, Bruce Bartholomew:
rear-Mike Daigler, Ramsey Tick, Holly & Mike
Walter.
~-
s.o.w.n. Y.
PRESSES
on
TO VESTAL
BY JIM BREWER
Saturday. May 4th found a convoy of cars, vans. and
motorcycles from the Niagara frontier headed for
Vestal. New York some 200 miles distant. Harvey and
Marion Roehl were our hosts fOJ; our first meeting
away from our home territory. After checking out our
To Harvey's left are (ill front) Nancy & Valerie Group.
Along the back are Ed Group. Jim Brewer. Bob
Berkman and Jeff Depp.
As usual, it seems we pay as much attention to our
stomachs as to instruments and this weekend proved
to be no exception. Reservations were made at the
Vestal Steak House. a short walk away, for dinner.
There was also a bowling convention in town and the
atmosphere was hectic, but friendly. In next to no time
Harvey at the Fotoplayer.
- 165 -
tables were pushed together and drinks were in front
of us. To state it briefly, the dinner was excellent.
having been replaced by a misty gray twilight. A cool,
almost chilly breeze was moving in after a hot day.
The only sounds to be heard were those of the birds and
from the rapids in nearby Buck Creek. The stage was
set.
A short walk back in the evening air and we were
ready for a real treat. Getting the chairs set up in the
"theater," the movie screen soon flickered with the
Laurel & Hardy short, "The Music Box." this silent
feature was accompanied by Harvey on the
Fhotoplayer. For those not falmiliar with this short, it
is how two movers, Stan and Ollie, move a Tom Thumb
Recorda up a long flight of stairs. When finally set up
and playing, sharp-eyed members noted the roll on the
piano was QRS Recorda "Medley of Patriotic Airs."
After the show we returned to give our favorite
instruments one look before leaving.
The old mill stream.
This would seem a most unlikely setting for the
introduction of a military band organ. A raucous,
drum-pounding contraption in the midst of this
peaceful surrounding? Well, believe me, as it began to
play in the fading light out in the middle of an open
meadow, surrounded by hills and trees, with a sky full
of red fringed clouds overhead, a person's fancy could
really take flight. Oooh, to have had an old fashioned
Merry-Go-Round set up there in the clearing. Fellini
with his Hollywood surrealism could never have
matched it. This is a band organ's natural habitat-not
some echo chamber museum, not some living room,
sandwiched between the Mills Banshee and the Regina
Tinklebox. We tend to forget the original purpose of
this machine was outdoor fantasy. The Wurlitzer had
come home!
The restored Gavioli.
After breakfast we headed on our way back home. The
weather was still quite cool, and if that were not
enough, we were treated to the way of things to come
as nearly all the gas stations were closed. However,
gas or no gas, everyone made it down and back safely.
Once again Harvey and Marion a "Thank You" from us
at S.O.W.N.Y. for doing a great job of hosting our May
meeting.
=-
"Down BY THE OLD MILL STREAM"
OR
"Did I Slav Too Long al Ihe Analr?"
BY DICK PARKER
The sun had set behind the tree covered hills only
moments before. The long shadows were gone now,
The old mill. Arch was originally the water inlet.
- 166 -
One selection especially, "Raindrops Keep Falling On
My Head," required no prodding at all of the already
saturated imagination to visu'alize Butch Cassidy and
his girl (alias Paul Newman and Kathryn Ross) riding
that bicycle through the trees at the edge of the
meadow.
Such was the evening of the opening day of the AMICA
Family Outing weekend planned and hosted by Bob
and Mary Lou Shimp with Martin and Beulah
Hubbard. The site was the Shimp's summer retreat, an
abandoned mill located in an area of northeast Iowa
best described by naming some of the nearby towns;
Luxemburg, New Vienna, Guttenberg, Osterdock and
the like. Just a few miles up in the hills from the
Mississippi River, Bob "discovered" the old Valley
Mill structure while trout fishing along Buck Creek
one day. Since becoming its owners, the Shimps have
begun a backbreaking restoration of the mill and have
listed it with the National Register of Historic Places.
Only a person acquainted with the heavy timbers and
,stone construction of these old buildings could
appreciate the meaning of the term "backbreaking"
used above. So far most or all of the rafters, floor
joists, sheathing, shingles and flooring as well as
some of the main supporting beams have been
replaced by Bob and his "volunteer" crews.
Terry Goepel, Chester Kuharski and Sam Hubbard
enjoying both the music and the fire.
./
V01unteer Vern Velau valiantly ventures near the
volcano.
Al and Bob stacking wood for the fire.
An adjoining house of the same style and construction
is the Shimp's actual summer residence and they have
fixed it up into accomodations for sizeable groups of
guests (I tnink someone counted 13 beds). Mary Lou
has a beautiful rustic kitchen on the lower level with
both gas and wood burning stoves, and does she know
how to use them. You wouldn't believe the quantities
of hot, fresh, homemade rolls, salads and desserts she
had ready for us, not to mention the frilled Iowa pork
chops she managed to prepare for early comers
Saturday night.
Well, after feasting on both the food and the scenery
and having yet to discover the joys of an open air band
organ, there was only one logical thing to do - dig out
the piano rolls and get the three player pianos going.
The restored one was in the master bedroom (where
else?) and the other two, unre,stored but playing nicely
if with more effort, were in the mill. All were kept
busy. Lee Zimmerline and I supplied about an hour's
'continuous entertainment by alternate playing of the
two in the barn. As there were no reproducers in the
line-up, the natural leaning was toward ragtime with
such original titles as "Blue Goose Rag," "Dockstader
Rag," "April Fool Rag" and "Red Rose Rag" among
the few I remember.
The highlight of the weekend was to be a pit type hog
roast. Shortly before sunset Bob gathered us all
around to build the fire which was to become the bed of
coals. Singed whiskers became the fashion of the day
for those of us who had never seen one of these things
done before. It takes a heap of old barn boards to fill a
four foot deep hole with red coals and we really had a
fire going for a while. Later in the chill evening air,
that fire felt pretty good, except to Vern Velau, who
was in charge of digging out any unburned wood and
Meanwhile, back at the ranch. it was question and
answer time; Duo-Art owners being the questioners
and Chester Kuharski being the other. The Northern
Lights Chapter had been invited to attend this meeting
and Chester and other members of that group showed
up just full of that kind of information for which he
became famous in the AMICA Technicalities. The
quizzing continued throughout the evening,
suppertime. firetending duties (with timeout to
sacrifice the hog to the volcano) and into the late hours
of the nigh t.
his eight foot long pry rod kept getting him too close to
what looked like the innards of a volcano.
There were those of us who watched in disbelief as Bob
and Mary Lou wrapped 10 pound pieces of pork in
paper and wet burlap, threw them on top of flaming red
coals, covered it all with thin plywood and plastic
sheeting, left it untended until noon the next day and
NOTHING was so much as scorched. I told you there
was something magical in the air that evening. Butch
and Sundance, you were there weren't you. Why
couldn't I catch the golden ring.
"-
Sunday morning was the way Sunday mornings are
supposed to be. I got up "early" (7 a.m.) and took a hike
along Buck Creek in the early morning fog looking for
pictures-with an occasional glimpse for bicycle tire
prints in the mud. Then there was nothing to do until
time for the "unveiling" of the pork at noon. Well,
nothing except enjoy a delicious breakfast of coffee,
juice and homemade cinammon rolls, watch and
encourage Bob and Mary Lou who were preparing the
noon feast-and play more piano rolls. And ask more
questions.
Credit for this magical machine should be given at this
point to its owner, Martin Hubbard, who, though he
couldn't be with us at the time, had asked his brother
Sam to load it up and bring it to the meeting. Sam
obliged, both Saturday evening and for the Sunday
afternoon dinner, all the time keeping his fingers
crossed that fickle Iowa weather wouldn't turn up a
rainstorm. He didn't realize Iowa AMICA does not
allow foul weather during meeting hours - only
immediately before and after.
Earlier Saturday afternoon some of us had driven into
nearby Garnoville to visit the historical museum
complex there which consists of the museum proper
as well as an original log cabin and an 1860 Lodge Hall
built for the LO.O.F. for the use of its members and
other lodges. The museum, originally built in 1866 as a
Congregational Church is now also on the National
Register and the lodge has been nominated to that list.
Pa.yday!
Noon soon came. I'll leave it to you to supply your own
adjecti ves to describe the meal of corn on the cob,
baked beans, salads without end, homemade rolls
again and. of course. that incredible roast pork. Make
your mouth water? I should say! That's Pork with a
capital P. The only term fitting my own reaction was
"gluttonous." I had company! Mary Lou brushed aside
all compliments and expressions of appreciation for
all her work saying that "cooking the meat this way
takes most of the work out of it." HA!
Uncovering the finished product.
Most interesting to AMI CAns perhaps was the
prominently displayed-and operating-20" (give or
take) disc music box, built by heaven knows who, but
sold by and with the decal of Montgomery Ward.
Whoever made it for them sure made a beautiful
sounding machine.
Whereupon, our sneaky vice president, Stan Peters,
took advantage of our weighted down condition and
called the business meeting to order. Nothing very
weighty came from it however, except the nomination
of officers for the coming year. Well, who can think
great thoughts on a bursting stomach anyhow?
A couple of members were seen rummaging through
the old book section of the museum in search of
references to old musical instruments. Don't know if
they found any or not.
Sam Hubbard again fired up the band organ but
somehow it didn't have the same effect this time. A "---
- 168 -
the quick cooling of the outside. The wire was then
perfectly straight. However, it was not so hard inside
that it could not be bent and secured to the pneumatic
and bell crank. He was delighted with the suggestion.
For the benefit of those who have not read Larry
Givens' book, I must tell you that the machine had two
tracker bars and it automatically corrected uneven
measure times. This was done so that the roll could be
used for dancing. It was difficult to get the artist to
play with sufficient uniform measure length for
dancing. In my opinion, this machine was a
masterpiece of designing. Before its use, it was
necessary to hand punch the rolls. This machine
reduced the timeto make the master to a small fraction
of the time required for hand punching. I recommend
that you read the two descriptions by Larry Givens
and Peter Brown.
herd of cattle resting in the shade across the brook
. appeared to be enjoying it maybe even more than we;
but then, they get a second chance to digest their
meals. The business meeting was adjourned, piano
rolls and pictures put away, lawn chairs returned to
storage. The summer meeting of the Iowa Chapter was
--" at an end. Thunderstorms appeared to be moving in
from the northwest.
Many thanks to Bob and Mary Lou who put out
"almost no effort" for doing what they did; to Martin
and Beulah Hubbard for co-hosting the affair (sorry
sickness kept you away) and for supplying the
Wurlitzer which is going to supply me at least with a
new appreciation of band organs. And to Sam, who
took out of his own time, at risk of his own neck, to
bring in that musical magic carpet.
I would also like to tell you that when Mr. Stoddard
bought the Rolls Royce, he was not satisfied with the
body design and he designed a body to his liking and
had them build it. The body he designed was far
superior to the ones the Rolls Royce people were
making.
JJioorapRicaf
18KefcRes
Mr. Stoddard not only knew how to work, he knew how
to play. He loved to play golf and when we got the
Aberdeen chronograph, he wanted to make
measurements of the velocities of the club head and
the ball. We set up a system for doing this in the
laboratory and had noted golfers come to the
laboratory to test this. One golfer, namely Walter
Hagon, came in and it was amazing the uniformity
with which he could hit the ball. We also chalked the
ball so that it would leave a pattern on the face of the
head and each stroke left almost identical patterns.
ATRIBUTE TO
CHARLES FULLER STODDARD
part II
BY DR. CLAREnCE n. HICKMAn
The following is the conclusion of the article begun in
the August/September AMICA Bulletin of Dr.
Hickman's address at the AMICA Convention in
Philadelphia.
All the time we were working on the Model B Ampico
and getting the recording machine built, Mr. Stoddard
was designing a punch machine that would take the
note record sheet and automatically punch a trial roll
and if desired, it would also punch a master roll that
would be sent to the factory for use in punching the
finished rolls. I had very little to do with this
development. Mr. Stoddard did the impossible in that
design. This machine has been described by Larry
Givens in his book, Re-enacting the Artist, and Peter
Brown in an article published in your Bulletin. The
only place I helped Mr. Stoddard in this development
was when he told me that he was having trouble with
the piano wire not being straight enough. Small
diameter piano wire was used to connect the
pneumatic with the bell crank that controlled the note
to be punched. This was solved by taking lengths of the
wire and in our dark room, suspending the wire with
weights attached, and passing an electric current
through it until it was cherry red. When the current
was turned off, the outside of the wire was hardened by
One interesting result was obtained. The golf pros all
recommended that the golfer follow through. They
seemed to have the idea that after hitting the ball they
could continue to push it and thus get a higher
velocity. Being a physicist, I knew this could not be
true, but our measurements showed that if the golfer
did follow through that they increased the velocity. We
soon found the answer to this question. We began
measuring the velocity of the head of the driver and
found that its highest velocity was attained before it
hit the reached the ball. If the golfer used the follow- 169 -
There was only one time that we had any differences.
Even though he was the director and I was his
assistant, he never would do anything without my
approval. Since he did not want our competitors to
know how the dynamics were being recorded, he
wanted to put radio tubes on the recording machine to
make them think tubes were being used. I did not like
the proposal and told him so.. Every day he would
bring up the question and try to get me to agree. I am
sorry to say I actually lost my temper and told him
that he was the boss and that he could do as he damned
well pleased. He could tell that I was angry. Now, how
do you suppose that he reacted to that outburst? A grin
came over his face and he reached out his hand and
said, "Doctor, congratulations! I did not think you had
a temper." He never tried to change my mind again
and later gave a paper before the Acoustical Society
telling all about how the dynamics were recorded.
through drive, the maximum velocity of the head was
attained closer to the ball but never was it a maximum
at the time it hit the ball.
Mr. Stoddard built a driving machine and took it out on
the range and tested the distance the ball would go
with different velocities of the head. It was arranged so
that it could be adjusted to hit the ball at any place on
the face of the head and as expected, the maximum
distance was attained when the club hit the ball in line
with its center of gravity.
One morning Mr. Stoddard came into the laboratory
and told me he had an appointment with the president,
Mr. Foster, to discuss a matter on which they
disagreed. He returned to the laboratory sooner than I
expected but acted like a whipped dog. I asked him if
he had lost the battle and he replied, "No, Mr. Foster
agreed with me in every respect but now I'm
wondering if I might be wrong."
After the company had sold out to the Banker's Trust
and the stock market crash came, the company went
into the hands of the receivers. The Research
Laboratory was closed January 1, 1930 and I got a
position at the Bell Telephone Laboratory. Mr.
Stoddard asked me to go into the restaurant business
with him, but I did not think I would like that kind of
research. He, however, established a restaurant on the
top floor of Butler Hall and conducted research on how
to cook food and did an outstanding job. I visited him
often and he visited me from time to time. I often took
guests to his restaurant for dinner. I was in complete
sympathy with his way of running the restaurant. The
previous man who ran the restaurant lost money that
was made up by the owner of Butler Hall as he thought
it helped him keep his apartments rented. They never
had to make up any deficit for Mr. Stoddard. He made a
comfortable profit. He started out by hiring a chef but
the chef did not approve of his scientific methods and
quit, so Mr. Stoddard let the colored boy who was the
chefs assistant run the kitchen. He did things just like
Mr. Stoddard wanted him to. Mr. Stoddard installed a
system so that the kitchen knew every time a customer
came in. He set up chill cabinets with pneumatically
operated doors that could be opened by the waitresses
by stepping on a pedal. When the waitress took her foot
off the pedal, the door would quietly and gently close. I
do not believe this could have been done as well by all
electric system. He provided a garbage disposal
system at each post, where the waitresses could
dispose of uneaten food and had only to carry the
relatively clean dishes to the kitchen.
At one time the company decided to go into the
manufacture of music rolls in a big way, making rolls
for player pianos. Since they had a contract with Mr.
Stoddard for a specified amount per roll, they told him
that they wanted to reduce the fee per roll. To their
surprise, Mr. Stoddard agreed to the fee they specified.
However, he asked them to put in the contract a clause
that stated that the total amount of the fee per year
would never be less than it was the preceeding year.
They readily agreed to this proposal. It turned out they
never did go into the manufacture of rolls and Mr.
Stoddard got the same fee he had the year before as
long as the contract lasted. I never knew how much he
got per year but he stated in the article that appeared
in Who's Who in the East, that his total income per
year was about $100,000.00.
In that article they told about his trip to England on a
cattle boat. He told me a great deal about that trip. As I
have already stated, he loved the arts and had wanted
to visit the art galleries in England. He had a chance to
go on a cattle boat and he resigned his job and went. He
told me that the cost of the trip was greater than he had
estimated and he ran low on money. He said that as he
was touring the art galleries, he was munching
parched corn. When he was ready to leave, he did not
have the money to pay the landlady for his room. He
skipped without paying her but as soon as he had
money enough. after getting back to the states, he sent
her the amount he owed her.
One day he asked me to go to lunch with him as he
wanted to talk to me about something. I did not eat
lunch at that time but I went with him and he told me
that he was worried about the patents. He said I had
contributed so much to the development of the Model B
Ampico that if the patents were issued in my name the
officials would want to know what he had been doing. I
told him that it was he that had the idea of getting a
technical man and that it was his vision that had
enabled me to make so many suggestions. He was so
impressed that I am sure he went to Mr. Foster and had
him increase my salary from $7,500.00 per year to
$10,000.00 and it was made retroactive and I got a
check for $2,500.00.
Mr. Stoddard did not have a bar in his restaurant. He
did not want to have to deal with unions. However,
when I took special guests he let me use his office to
serve cocktails. During my work in World War II, I had
charge of rocket developments and had visitors from
England, Rocket Research and military officers that I
would take to his restaurant. They were always
impressed.
In 1952, he visited me when I was a consultant to
Sandia Corporation in Albuquerque. I took him up to
Mesa Verde to see the Indian dwellings and he had the
time of his life. We spent a night in Durango and we
- 170-
playing again for her but she lived to see the day it
needed service again. Mrs. Stoddard had willed her
house furniture to Miss Young who had taken care of
her in her illness. She was a difficult patient. In spite
of the fact she had been a nurse, she had no use for
doctors. Neither Miss Young or I were able to get her to
let a doctor visit her. They did finally get her in a
hospital where she passed away.
had a cabin in a motel. Mr. Stoddard always wanted a
cocktail before a meal. It was a beautiful day and we
·were having cocktails out in front of the cabin. He was
telling some of his stories. He was always full of them.
A man checked in to the adjacent cabin and he got
interested in Mr. Stoddard's stories and Mr. Stoddard
..../ offered him a drink but he declined saying he was a
Mormon and that they do not drink. However, he
stayed and listened to more of Stoddard's stories. Mr.
Stoddard finally said, "Are you sure that you do not
want a drink?" The man said, "I do not mind if I do; I
am not a very good Mormon."
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to
say that while I do not share your hobby of collecting
automatic musical instruments, I can understand it.
From the mid-twenties to the mid-sixties, I was a
collector of books and magazines on the subject of
archery. I spent not hundreds of hours, but thousands
of hours on this hobby. By 1965 I had collected what I
believe was the largest collection of books and
magazines that was ever owned by a private person. I
not only bound practically every magazine that had
been published on the subject of archery in the English
language, but I made an index for each volume.
At that time Mr. Stoddard was in charge of research for
the Stauffer Restaurant in Cleveland. He originally
had it on 57th Street in New York City. I visited this
laboratory many times. When it moved to Cleveland,
Stoddard would drive to Cleveland and drive home for
the week-end. On one of those trips home, he became
very sleepy and was about to stop on the roadside and
take a nap, but on this occasion he saw a Howard
Johnson sign and decided to go there and get a cup of
coffee. But he did not make it. He fell asleep at the
wheel and crashed into a large telephone pole, cutting
it down and wrecking his car. He was unconscious for
a long time. He called me up from the hospital and told
me that he had died but Saint Peter would not let him in
but sent him to the other place and even they would not
let him in and that he had to come back to earth. I
visited him in the hospital and he recovered riicely.
After I had retired and was again living in Jackson
Heights, he visited me many times. Unfortunately, he
had a stroke that kept him in the hospital for some
time. He recovered sufficiently to visit me a few times.
___ But he had a very severe stroke and could no longer
talk or walk. I visited him in his apartment many
times and while he could not talk he always looked at
me as long as I was there. On my last visit it was the
same story. When I got ready to leave, he made signs to
Mrs Stoddard and she thought he wanted to go to the
bathroom but she finally got the message that he
wanted to go to the door with me. She wheeled him to
the door and as I went out he tried to say something
and it sounded like "h- go go good bye." Those were his
only words that he had ever spoken after his last
stroke. He did not live very long after that and when he
passed away I was called by Mrs. Stoddard to come
over and I was able to help her with some of her
problems.
In 1967 I donated this collection to the Indiana
University Library. The collection was appraised at
$5,000 but today it would be worth over $25,000.
The percentage of people interested in archery is
small. The number or percentage of people interested
in musical instruments is very high, so, you are to be
congratulated on picking a hobby that commands so
much interest.
I say to the members of AMICA and The Music Box
Society, GOD BLESS YOU. You are doing a great
service to mankind.
~~~-~.
From that time on, for many years, I visited Mrs.
Stoddard and she would call me on the phone and talk
as much as an hour. She did not seem to have much
judgement about finances and I was able to help her
with some of her investments. She was always crying
hard times, but the lady that had been Mrs. Stoddards
bookkeeper at the restaurant took care of Mrs.
Stoddard in her last days and found that she had
$75,000.00 in her checking account. During my visits to
see Mrs. Stoddard before her illness, she drew up a
document giving her Ampico to Larry Givens. I was a
witness to that contract. Larry had taken the action out
of her paino and taken it to his home, re-covered the
pneumatics and replaced all the tubing. He had it
- 171 -
.~
::::IT
c7'ecRnicalifies
-~
AnEW UALUE FOR REPRODUCinG PIAnos
BY DAVID L SAUL
A reproducing piano's eighty or so pneumatic stack
valves are among the most critical parts of the
instrument's pneumatic system. Indeed, many
consider these valves to represent the "weakest link"
in the chain of musical reproduction after every part of
a reproducing piano has been restored and adjusted to
the highest possible degree of perfection.
Early pneumatic action builders were troubled by
chronically poor valve performance and actively
sought improvements. Various double valve systems
as well as the Duo-Art cross valve and Ampico ball
unit valve were the results of active product
improvement efforts.
To assume at any point in time that a better way can't
be found to build a given thing is usually fallacious.
This article describes what might be considered a
small step forward in the pursuit of more perfect valve
action, even if it is offered a half-century late! There is
no intention here to condemn or "put down" any
particular kind of existing valve system, or to suggest
that this or that valve type may be inadequate for
customary use. The simple fact of the matter is that
reproducing pianos, when playing near their ultimate
performance level, demand valve action closely
approaching the impossible. Moreover, some of
today's recut rolls (but not all, fortunately) are
perforated with smaller diameter holes than were used
on original rolls, tending to choke off air flow at the
tracker bar and impair valve action to some extent. To
yield first rate performance, today's valves may at
times need to work even better than when new!
is easily built with larger channels for air movement.
In this paricular valve, the cross sectional area in the
region of tightest constriction turns out to be 0.0491 sq.
in., or just under 1/20 of a square inch.
Valve button
FIGURE
Moving on to more technical matters, some interesting
observations can be made about valves with which we
are all familiar, or are we? It is interesting to note, for
example, that Ampico "A" and "B" valves, although
contrasted in most written descriptions, have a
significant feature in common. Both have two
dissimilar moving parts (aside fom pouches) per note.
These parts, the primary and secondary valve
elements in the "A" valve, and valve element and steel
ball in the "B" valve, are coupled together solely by
pneumatic means. In both types the coupled parts are
expected to stay ideally in step with each oth~r under
widely varying playing conditions. This writer isn't
convinced that they (of either type) always do so. To
avoid these and other kinds of problems, some
builders preferred (and still do today) to employ the
most basic form of single valve. The Aeolian people
apparently felt that single valves were best. The
extremely high quality of Duo-Art construction in
general suggests that the choice was not made solely
for economic reasons. Aeolian engineers showed
considerable insight when the cross valve was
developed. Cross valves can give excellent results in
spite of the fact that their internal moving parts are
quite a bit heavier than most other competing types.
But heaven help the unfortunate Duo-Art owner whose
valve buttons become rotated (because of moving, etc.)
so that the cross-shaped imprint on the valve leather
no longer matches the corresponding shape on the
valve seat!
Air flow path in a conventional valve.
But the hole in the valve seat, being 1/2 inch in
diameter, has a considerably larger (0.196 sq. in.) area,
and this is a key point to keep in mind.
To begin to lift the valve button from its lower seat
when atmosphere is admitted under the pouch, the
pouch must act with an upward force in excess of the
combined total forces tending to hold the valve button
down. The latter is held by gravity, and is also sucked
tightly against its seat because of partial vacuum
underneath. (Any friction or stiffness in the pouch
must of course also be overcome if the valve button is _
to rise.) The aforementioned suction force, to be a bit
more specific, results from a difference in absolute
pressure inside and outside the valve (Le., the
difference between suction chest and atmospheric
pressures) acting over the cross sectional area of the
hole in the valve seat.
In any such valve, the pouch always has a greater
effective area than that of the valve seat hole. With a
pressure differential present, the pouch tends to
produce a greater lifting force, greater in magnitude
than the downward acting suction force. But remember
that a power-robbing bleed is present too, so the ratio
of forces is quite a bit smaller than the ratio of the two
areas might seem to suggest.
To proceed with the matter at hand, let us consider for
the sake of discussion an ordinary, right-side-up
single valve of the inside type. Most such valves have
round holes, so a round shape is assumed. Let us
further assume some representative numbers for
valve seat dimensions and valve button travel between
seats. Travel of 1/32 inch and hole diameter of 1/2 inch
are not unreasonable. When this particular valve is
actuated, air must flow through a constricted passage
1/32 inch high around the 1/2 inch diameter hole. This
is illustrated in Figure I. The total cross sectional area
of this constricted passage is the height of the opening
(1/32 in.) times the circumfrence of the hole (TT/2 in.).
This is, in effect, the "tightest" constriction of interior
air passage within the valve, since the rest of the valve
Water gage measurement (in inches of water) is a sort
of indirect method of describing pressure, and must be
converted to force per unit area if any kind of
calculations are to be done. It turns out that one pound
per square inch on good old terra firma is about
equivalent to 27.68 inches of water, or in other words,
one inch of water is 0.036 pounds per square inch (psL).
With a little arithmetic one can thus see that a partial
vacuum of forty inches of water will press our sample
valve against its seat with a force in excess of a
quarter pound when the valve is at rest. At five inches
of water, however, the suction force is reduced to only
a bit over a half ounce. The pouch's somewhat greater '--lifting force also varies in a manner roughly
- 172 -
Since the redesigned valve button must be lifted
through an annular slot rather than a hole, a little
ingenuity is required to get the pouch connected to it.
A set of mechanical prongs was devised for this
purpose, joined together at the bottom as shown in
Figure 3. Four prongs of flat steel stock were used for
each valve of the prototype set. Note that the valve
button and prongs cannot be installed when joined
together as shown in the illustration. When each valve
is assembled, the prongs have to first be inserted
through the slot in the lower valve seat, then joined
permanently to the valve button.
porportional to these values. (The non-linear effect of
the bleed keeps the proportionality from being a
simple, direct relationship.)
The low-suction situation that exists during very soft
playing generally provides the "acid test" for a
../ reproducing piano's valve action. At such levels all
types of valves tend to respond sluggishly; this occurs
because there is less force available from the pouch to
do the "work" of moving the valve button from one
seat to the other. Anything that can be done under low
suction conditions to reduce the amount of "work"
required of the pouch should, in theory, inprove valve
performance. In other words, if less initial effort
should be required to "break suction" and lift the valve
button from its seat, it follows that the valve will be
capable of responding a bit more quickly. This, in a
nutshell, is the factor that gives a performance edge to
the new design about to be described.
Suppose that the valve could be redesigned so the
effective area of the valve seat on which the
aforementioned suction force acts were reduced to a
valve approaching the 1/20 square inch (Le., the
tightest) air passage constriction. The valve button
would then be much easier to lift from its seat, but the
"breathing" capacity would be virtually unaffected.
Using the numbers given for discussion's sake earlier,
the total suction seating force could be reduced by a
factor of four!
FIGURE 3
Lifting prongs attached to
assembled inside of valve.
As it turns out, this can be done simply by making the
valve seat in the shape of an annular slot (ring-shaped
opening) instead of the round hole. This is illustrated
in Figure 2. The valve button can now have a hole in
the middle, as shown, since only the annular slot needs
to be sealed off. The center part of the valve seat, of
course, must be mechanically supported. The
supporting structure should not interfere with air flow
through the slot. An arrangement not unlike the
supporting structure of the center plug of a calliope
whistle is needed.
valve
button
(must
be
The complete valve is illustrated in Figure 4. The
valve button and prong assembly of each valve weighs
1.2 grams, as compared to 1 gram for an Ampico "B"
valve & stem, and 4 grams for a Duo-Art cross valve
assembly.
Visualizing such an oddball valve is one thing, but
building a whole set of them was another trip entirely!
Large scale production methods would have made the
job much easier, but would also have been
prohibitively expensive for a single set of eighty
three. To make a long story short, the needed valve
seats were maChined painstakingly from brass stock
(over a period of more evenings and weekends than I
could care to keep track of) and subsequently installed
in a set of Ampico "A" secondary valve blocks that
had their original innards removed. A complete valve
and some parts are shown in the accompanying
photographs.
Valve button
Lower seat
The new upper seats were threaded (for adjustment
purposes) to screw into the one inch diameter hole in
the top of the valve block. They were set at 0.032"
travel and sealed in place. A separate bleed rail was
employed, and belled sizes were changed several
times to find the best size for these particular valves.
Sorry, I don't remember the final size, and the evidence
is sealed up! New pouch wells were installed with
perflex pouches.
Mechanical
support
FIGURE 2
After listening to a 6'2" Mason & Hamlin Ampico with
these valves for about three years now, this writer has
Lower seat and valve button, annular slot type.
- 173 -
NOTE: parts are shown somewhat distorted to show
principle of operation more clearly
Pneumatic
Suction
supply
FIGURE 4
Fully assembled annular slot valve block in cross section.
no inclination whatever to return either to double
valves or ball unit valves, both of which have been
used previously. The new valves have shown
themsel ves to be excellent performers on trills.
repetition. and softly played single notes. They also
operate very quietly, i.e., without the mechanical
clatter sometimes heard from other types of valves.
more of them at alL Please don't ask me to build you a
set! If you want to build your own, good luck! The "whole job will be found quite a bit more critical and
much more difficult than building a set of
conventional valves. These must be very carefully
Valve parts. Shown are valve button. 4-pronged valve
button lifter, and two outer valve seats; one seat is
right side up. the other is inverted.
Valve block from prototype set.
The one year statutory limit for obtaining a patent
expired without fanfare some time ago, and the author
has no plans to market these valves or even build any
fabricated to avoid leakage. Surfaces must be in
excellent condition and mate perfectly. Lack of "-attention to such factors as flatness, concentricity,
- 174 -
exactly parallel orientation of valve faces, etc., could
result in catastrophic malfunctions. Extreme care
. must be taken to insure that prongs are completely
free from binding against slot edges when the valve is
activated. Each valve should be individually bench
tested during a "final inspection" prior to installation.
Mortimer English: 1883 Barnhart Place.
Ottowa, Ontario K lh 5B5, Canada. 1915
Langellier upr plyr (2); Raper upr plyr. Referred
by Ian Mavor & John Kelly.
..-/'
Don't try building a set unless you are extremely
patient, very resourceful, and have access to lots of
tools that aren't found in the average player shop.
Beyond that, all you'll need is persistance bordering
on fanaticism!
James E. DeRocher: 9111 Barrick Street,
Fairfax, VA 22031. Referred by John Grant.
Joel Feldman: 3256 Butler Avenue, Los
Angeles, CA 90066. 1929 Knabe 5'4" Louis XV
Ampico A.
Bill & Fern Henry Spurlock: 1366 Cantelow
Road, Vacaville, CA 95688. 1917 Kimball upr
plyr; 1922 Howard upr plyr; 1923 Franklin 5'
Ampico; 1905 Autopiano upr plyr; 1925 Hardman
& Peck upr plyr; 1924 Bellmore upr plyr; Milnor
upr plyr; Angelus 65-note push-up plyr. Referred
by Sonja Lemon.
Stanley Berman: One Lincoln Plaza, New York,
NY 10023. Referred by Marion Frazier.
Irving H. Norton: Harmony Hill Road,
Harwinton, CT06791. 1927 Aeolian upr Duo-Art;
1922 Stroud upr Duo-Art; 1914 Pianola push-up;
1912 Francis Bacon upr plyr; 1927 Bradbury upr
plyr; Regina mb.
Music room in the penthouse of Henry L. Doherty at 24
State Street in New York (ca. 1922.)
-./ Contributed by Bill & Dee Kavouras.
Carol Batchelder & Joseph Williams: The Ivory
Keyboard, 1088 Main Street, Haverhill, MA 01830.
1927 Becker Bros. upr plyr; Lord & Co. upr plyr.
Richard B. Parsons:
Penfield, NY 14526
nEW MEMBERS
1932 Penfield Road,
Ronald Hodill: 34730 Maple Grove, Apt. D,
Sterling Heights, MI 48077. 1917 Conway upr
plyr.
Timothy S, Needler: 5440 N. Meridan St.,
Indianapolis, IN 46208. 1927 Weber 5'8" Art case
Duo-Art; 1921 Auto-player upr plyr. Referred by
Gib Petzke.
Keith Ridler: 8925 E. Jefferson, Apt. 11-E,
Detroit, MI 48214. Referred by Fran Meyer.
Allan R. & Mary Merralls: Portuguese Bend
Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274. 1923
Tangley Calliophone w /plyr Mod. A; misc. music
box. Referred by Ian Ma vor.
Cathy Taylor: 847 Cummings Ave., Ottowa,
Ontario K1K 2L3, Canada. Chicago Ellwood upr
plyr.
CLASSIFIED
FREE LISTS: All types rolls, cylinder records and machines.
Discs. cobs. sheet music. catalogs & literature. Mechanical music
and much more. Our 21 st year ... VI & 51'S ANTIQUES, 8970
Main St., Clarence, NY 14031.
Robert L. Thomas: 1416 Buckingham Way,
Hayward, CA 94544. 1929 Roll-Monica. Referred
by Bill Wherry & Peter Mintun.
- 175 -
Q. R. S. ROLLS:
25-30% discount. Shipped directly to you.
Authorized dealer. Write - Baley·s. 310 Grandview. Kalamazoo.
MI 49001.
WANTED: Urgently want for immediate confidential cash
individual music boxes, nickelodeons. orchestrions. as well as
collections. Immediate decision, immediate payment. And, we
take care of shipping. Send a Polaroid snapshot and brief
description of what you have. Thinking of selling? Think of AlGI.
American International Galleries. 17792AB Fitch St.. Irvine.
California 92714 (714) 754-1777.
fit all upright pianos.
FOR SALE: Mandolin attachments Easy installation. Tabs pre-cut with metal clips already attached.
Kit includes necessary hardware. $16 postpaid in U.S. Quantity
discount. W. F. Knapp, 2819 53rd St. N.. St. Petersburg. FL
33710.
FOR SALE: Late model Fischer Ampico "B" spinet. Player and
piano recently rebuilt. Reasonable offer accepted. Call or write;
Jack Thomas. 10125 Desoto Ave. #46. Chatsworth. CA 91311.
(213) 998-9333, ext.2120.
FOR SALE: Mason & Hamlin Ampico B 5'4" with touch control
on keyboard. unrestored $10.500. Weber Duo-Art 6'1" unrestored
$3.000. Wurlitzer IX nickelodeon with 6 roll changer. beautiful
oak case and art glass. unrestored $8,000. Pitch & Time 'Shoppe
(516) 744-1468.
FOR SALE: Melville Clark Apollo expression piano, unrestored
with bench and 5 expression rolls; foot pedals and/or electric
motor driven. $1000 or best offer. John Bartlett. 540 A Street.
Gering, NE 69341. (308) 436-3620 evenings.
AUCTION: AMPICO, DUO-ART. WELTE & 88 NOTE ROLLS.
SHEET MUSIC: 45 & 78 RPM RECORDS WRITE FOR LIST I. L.
CORDELL. 2240 LORAIN ROAD, SAN MARINO. CA 91108.
SCOPITONE- 159-page manual filled with the history.
schematics. film listings. and restoration hints for the French and
American Scopitones. Regularly $29.50. Current sales promotion
$16.50. I also have American machines available for sale. Gerold
Koehler. 1002 Forest, Joplin, MO 64801. (417) 781-2120.
WANTED: Edison Phonograph Doll; Regina & Symphonion
Musical SaVings Banks; Capital Cuff Box style 'OF"; music boxes
with vending devices; unusual crank organs; original catalogs for
music boxes and crank organs; Regina music box with bells;
Symphonion Mantel Clock. Marty Roenigk. 26 Barton Hill. East
Hampton. CT 06424.
FOR SALE:
1926 Marshall & Wendell Ampico A grand. 5'0". with
lost motion and loud pedal compensators. Ampico rebuilt and piano
restrung. with new hammers in 1977. Original iVOry keys and dark
mahogany finish (slightly checked). $4500. Pianocorder
Reproducing Vorsetzer, ebony. $1500. Fred Q. Graybeal. Jr., 3745
Hulen Park. Fort Worth. Texas 76109. Phone (817) 924-1193.
TRADE: Miscellaneous Ampico A and B parts for original copy
of "Knabe - The Piano Beautiful." (See page 99 of Re-Enacting
the Artist by Larry Givens). Dick Howe, 9318 Wickford. Houston,
TX 77024.
BUYING: AMPICO. DUO-ART. WELTE & OTHER TYPE OF
ROLLS. DESCRIBE AND PRICE. ALTMAN 8970 Main Street.
Clarence. NY 14031.
MONTHLY ROLL AUCTIONS: Reproducing 88/65-note. plus
musical miscellany. Specify interests. Mike & Fred Schwimmer.
241 Harbor. Glencoe IL 60022.
WANTED: Monkey Organ any condition. AS. Misiano.
Mclean Road. Saugus, MA 01906. 1-617-233-1851.
14
FOR SALE: World's largest stock of music boxes. nickelodeons.
orchestrions. band organs. organettes. Also tremendous selection
of rolls and discs. Slot machines, arcade machines, old posters,
cash registers. clocks. Large illustrated catalog $5 (subscription
$15 for next 6 issues). Or. send for free brochure describing our
stock and services. Complete worldwide shipping facilities. Or.
visit us. Just 15 minutes from Disneyland. American International
Galleries, 17792AB Fitch St .. Irvine. California 92714 (714) 7541777.
RARE 2-MANUAL CABINET ORGAN
WANTED: Player piano, "fixer-upper." any repairable condition.
Stanley. 8776 Elden St., La Mesa. CA 92041.
FOR SALE: Player upright reproducing piano. 1926 Haines Bros.
Marque Ampico. good un restored condition. $2.500.00. Also
complete set of Ampico parts from 1923 Chickering grand.
unrestored. $1,000.00. Bill Koenigsberg. 77 High Pine Circle,
Concord MA. 1-617-369-8523.
FOR SALE: Weber Duo-Art reproducing grand 5' 10". Superbly
restored. Bench. 25 rolls. $6.100. G. Allen, 50 N. Main, Medford.
NJ 08055. Phone (609) 654-0548.
Geo. A Prince & Co. Handsome "flat top" rosewood case,
original finish. 61-note manuals, 17-note pedal. 5 ranks
hand-cut reeds intact. gorgeous tone. Extremely qUiet builtin suction unit. Worthy of a museum, but deserves daily
use as a musical instrument. A treasure for only $6.500.00
Roger Torkelson
157 States Street
San Francisco. CA 94114
(415) 552-3862
The
NationalAcademy Of Popular Music.
~'(7'~
~:n.~:~-1
./
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =JillLLnHll= = = =
One Times Square
New York, N. Y. 10036
Tel. 212-221-1252
Songw(Iteri' Hall ofFame~
!F[J={]!E [r:!]~u~(Q)[r:!]~1L ~(C~[Q)!EIM]W (Q)[f [pJ(Q)[pJlUJlL~1R1 lM]lUJ~I](c
Johnny Mercer, President 1968-1973
@[jj)<Q] liiJlJ® ~(Q)[jj)@lI§WlJ'ofi®lJ'~ []={]@~~
Abe Olman, Executive Director
Jules Goldberg, Managing Director
Oscar Brand, Curator
Alan S. Bergman, Counsel
Trustees (Honorary)
.....
Stanley Adams
Edward M. Cramer
Morton Gould
George Hoffman
Alex Parker
Alice H. Prager
Howard S. Richmond
Richard Rodgers
Frank Sinatra
William B. Williams
[F@[jjJjJ®
~~~qy(UV
tak aFU ~ J<de ifu fw.,~
~~;reaL~ and.wn;r~
liP
Officers
Sammy Cahn, President
Leonard Feist, Vice President
Robert Sour, Vice President
AI Brackman, Secretary
Gerald Marks, Treasurer
Russ Sanjek, Director of Public Affairf
@U
With a museum, archives and library at One Times Square in the heart of show
business, the Academy is the dynamic parent of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Many
of the grand composers and lyricists whose delightful creations you automatically
enjoy-talents from the start of this century and others active today-have been
voted into the Hall of Fame, and memorabilia, sheet music, photos, etc., honor them
in our museum.
With a lively program of exhibits, visits by school children and other groups, we
seek your participation and support for our continuing efforts to celebrate the
unique magic of American popular music and its creators.
You're invited to all exhibitions and unique mini-events, and will receive our lively
Newsletter. An annual tax-deductible dues of $15.00 makes all this yours.
Board of Directors
Louis Alter
Walter Bishop
AI Brackman
Oscar Brand
Sammy Cahn
Sam Coslow
Ervin Drake
Edward Eliscu
Lehman Engel
Leonard Feist
John Hammond
Burton Lane
Gerald Marks
Mitchell Parish
Ann Ronell
Russ Sanjek
Charles Scully
William L. Simon
Anna Sosenko
Robert Sour
Jule Styne .
Walter Wager
Lou
r
Honorary Member of AMICA
Composer and Board Member of
The National Academy of Popular Music
(tear off and mail)
The National Academy of Popular Music, Inc.
One Times Square, New York, N. Y. 10036
Supporting Membership Annual Dues: $15.00
Name
Advisory Council
George Albert
Bob Austin
George Duning
Bud Green
Arthur Hamilton
Samuel M. Lerner
Lou Levy
------ Johnny Marks
Cork O'Keefe
Alec Wilder
Frankie MacCormick, Manager/Archives
(Tvpography donated
In
honor of LoUIS Alter)
Address
City
State
Make check payable to: The National Academy of Popular Music, Inc.
Zip Code
·~~e...--.l:()(~e--.l:()(~e--.l:()(~e...--.l '
t
~~
x
~
~
l
x~
x
~
~
t
~
~
~
~
X
STECK DUO·ART 5'4" Walnut ca'e. perrect 'vo"e,.
Conce" KNABE AMPICO "B" #t 1005 ,e""ed
board and be,aring, soft pedal
$2.700
$10,000 restored.
$42,000. The piano has been partially refinished in high
ebony gloss but I will entertain other possible finishes.
To my knowledge this piano is the only original concert
Ampico "B".
keyboard
shift.
HAINES AMPICO "A" 4'8" #87247 walnut with original
"B" drawer installed. Bad ivories and case scratched.
$3,500
$12,000 restored.
STEINWAY GREEN ROLL WELTE UPRIGHT #249190
KW Ebony. It's German, it's beautiful, excellent ivories
of highest quality $4,000
$10.000 restored.
Eight rank WELTE PHILHARMONIC player pipe organ
with 20 rolls. Fully automatic. harp and chimes, partially
restored, plus 116 note Aeolian 2 manual console.
The "Creme de la Creme." 7' MASON & HAMLIN
AMPICO "A" RBB #3741 shown in photograph. This
piano sounds as beautiful as it looks. We are checking
but believe that there were three in this case style
made with Ampico installed. one belonging to the late
John Barrymore. This instrument will be available spring
for $38,000. The option of a "B" drawer is available.
J
~
~
.
~
~
~
$7,500
~
(
~
~
~~
X
Player Piano Repair
12 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003
212 243-5026
~~~~X~~~X~~~X~~X
J
~
~~
..J
,.1.
u M5
lIlited moving &storage inc
CLEVELAND. COLUMBUS. DAYTON
513/461-5044
110r the pro ...
Tuned and untuned percussions
WANTED TO BUY
* Unusual or fancy roll cabinets.
* Quality reproducing pianos.
(Please send pictures and prices)
* Also want classic Welte, Ampico
and Duo-Art rolls.
OUR VANS ARE IN ALL 48 STATES
for use in all automatic
instruments
Single and duplex spoolframes
for A,G,and 0
rolls and all
wurlitzer scales
Custom fabrication in wood and
metal of one or a thousand parts
Piano and orqan supplies and
hardware
Bill Eicher
c/o United Moving & Storage, Inc.
1728 Troy Street
,"J
Dayton, OH 45404
Alias Van lines~1t
box-1094 -. -~
. EEl SJ
~~~~hrL-
-
------.
IUbbo~exas
79408 --- - .-
Mechanical Systems, Inc.
We have 52 reproducing pianos
listed and illustrated in our new Fall
catalog, probably the world's largest
inventory. 1/ you'd like a copy 0/ the
catalog, please write or telephone.
MechanicalMusic Center;Inc.
25 Kings Highway North, Box 88, Darien, Connecticut 06820
Telephone (203) 655-9510
Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association
Nonprofi t
u.s. PO
o
PUBLISHER
Tom Beckett
P.O. Box 401807
Dallas. TX 75240
address correction requested
return postage guaranteed
g.
GE

TheAMICA - Stacks are the Stanford

Transcription

Similar documents

Structure Of August Srew Air Compressor

deuter Streamer 2.0 Liter

The Murzan PI 50 Sanitary Pump Gently Handles the Widest Range

HT-METAL QUICKSTART GUIDE

HP1217R – TF 727 Manual Reverse Pattern Valve Body

MODEL ASC-TC612.qxd

PURONICS® Filtramax - Northeast Water Systems

Your helpful life insurance guide

KIBBLEWHITE 6mm VALVE INSTALLATION NOTES

DN100 Reflux Valve