Note: With the publication of Issue #7 of "The PIANOLA News" we are converting our Internet 'magazine' into a MONTHLY. This is due to the fact that the ARTCRAFT Web pages have doubled our mail-order business ... and there is only so much time in each day! We thank the many readers of "The PIANOLA News" for their support ... and we have every intention of continuing with this Internet journal, only with one issue per month in the future. Should there be a major announcement about Player-Piano rolls, then ARTCRAFT will publish a special edition of "The PIANOLA News" in between the new schedule. Happy Reading!

The PIANOLA News

Information for Player and 'Reproducing' Piano enthusiasts
from
The ARTCRAFT Studio in Maine

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"THE PIANOLA NEWS" — Thursday, April 2 1998 - Vol. I, No. 7
[Updated Monthly]


Howard Lutter — the Master Arranger

A player roll musician with "vision" ... and the inspiration for modern Interpretive Arrangements!

Those who collect music rolls have not, until recent years, mentioned the name "Howard Lutter" to any great extent. It was, in fact, Mr. Henderson of ARTCRAFT Music Rolls who touted the Arranger's name extensively since the early ’Fifties. This is perhaps due to the fact Mr. Lutter's prolific player roll projects taught him MORE than an analysis of arrangements created by anyone else in the past.

Naturally, when discussing Howard Lutter – of whom little is known today – the reader must keep in mind that music rolls were a factory product at the time ... with all the standardized procedures which this situation implies. Regular 88-Note music rolls, as well as the expression 'reproducing' releases, were produced on a schedule which was often dictated by musical formulae. Few chances were taken, which is why the advanced collector rejoices when he or she discovers a particular historic roll that dared to introduce some new musical ideas – or performance variations.

Being a music roll Arranger was never a glamourous activity, and even the lackluster products of the so-called 'Golden Era' required many hand operations. Creating a music roll is a labour intensive activity from start to finish. It was in this sphere of "mechanical music" versus "live musicians" that many artisans chose to use pseudonyms on roll labels, thereby keeping them separate from their legitimate musical work.

There is a good likelihood that Howard Lutter was not really the true name of the musician behind so many Kohler & Campbell (or Kohler Industries) products. [This article won't attempt to separate "who" controlled "what" in the chronology, but it's safe to assume that the enterprises of Autopiano, Kohler & Campell, Standard Pneumatic Action Co., Deluxe Reproducing Roll Corporation, Bennett & White and others – under the asupices of William Heaton, Paul Klugh (also of the Cable Company), Edwin Welte and others were interconnected or cross-pollinating in that 15-year period which comprised so many "Lutter" arrangements.] For example, the Great War – i.e. World War I – influenced many musicians to eliminate a "German sounding" name: Samuel Perlstein at Connorized became "S. A. Perry" ... and Wilhelm Axtmann at the same company was transformed into "William Arlington". In Ohio, Walter Esberger emerged as "Walter Davidson" and "Walter Davison" for Vocalstyle Rolls ... and even Edison's Dutch-born singer, Walter Van Brundt, became an 'Irish Tenor' named "Walter Scanlan" – complete with green shamrocks on the covers of the sheet music featuring his photograph and name!

Before Howard Lutter appeared on Bennett & White's 'Artempo' 88-Note rolls about 1916, there were some selections which listed an artist named "Wilhelm Kornbau" ... and this could explain why Howard Lutter seems to have dropped off the face of the earth after the year 1930 arrived. Perhaps there was a Mr. Kornbau who turned to teaching piano to local New Jersey students ... or who wrote manuscript transcriptions for the 'live' radio broadcasting of the era ... or maybe he entered some different profession entirely outside the sphere of music. Photographs show Mr. Lutter, in 1921, to be a young man with spectacles, looking something like motion picture actor Harold Lloyd (of roughly the same period.) Unless he suffered a severe accident – or a fatal malady like Aeolian's Felix Arndt, who died in his early thirties during the 1918 ’flu epidemic – there's every reason to assume that the musician lived for many years after the demise of the Player-Piano industry.

Needless to say, the elusive "played by Kornbau" rolls on the 'Artempo' label are 100% the same as those early arrangements "played by Lutter" ... right down to the formula striking decisions, note extensions and the pedal score. These 'Artempo' rolls were not the most exciting releases even in their own time, but they bore many of the arranging "trademarks" which would later make the BROWN BOX Deluxe and Welte-Mignon (Licensee) rolls so memorable ... even in this modern era of Interpretive Arrangements, which represent the zenith of Pianola performance!

While the Lutter rolls for Bennett & White and subsequently Kohler's 'Republic' brand were routine — save certain tell-tale refinements which would later become major features on his 'Twenties arrangements — it would be the Welte-Mignon (Licensee) rolls issued by the DeLuxe Reproducing Roll Corp. that would allow his creativity to soar, even within the confines of standardized factory working conditions. As mentioned above, the Kohler name would be everpresent in his roll-making endeavours ... as well as behind most of the pianos and player actions which were built to play them — from the pedal-operated 88-Note Autopiano, Kroeger and McPhail pianos to the expression rolls for the American Welte-Mignon under the 'Deluxe' and 'Licensee' tradenames. A roll Arranger, such as Howard Lutter, was often something akin to the City Editor at a metropolitan daily newspaper in the 'Twenties ... one who set musical policies, supervised a 'flow' of commercial projects and more often than not had something published in the names of OTHER people since the premise of the Welte-Mignon 'reproducing' piano was that marketing ploy of "record/playback" — i.e. preserving a pianist's live performance through the medium of perforated expression rolls.

Early 'Twenties Lutter rolls for Welte-Deluxe (with a zebra-striped box label and an illustration of a rose) were nothing like the TOTALLY ARRANGED, completely mathematical arrangements which appeared in the BROWN BOX era of the enterprise, approximately 1925-1932. Of course, as the mid-'Twenties approached, many of the Lutter releases for the Welte-Mignon began to incorporate subtle performance refinements, and there are titles such as Henry Lange's CHO-PIANO (A Chopinesque Fox Trot) which are on par with the best rolls from the later era. CHO-PIANO [Welte-Deluxe #Y-6386], issued right after the better known NOLA by Felix Arndt [Welte-Deluxe #Y6385] and Waldteufel's ever-popular ESPAÑA Waltz, Op. 236 [#Y-6384] illustrate what a Jack of all Trades Mr. Lutter was, in the workplace. He churned out imaginative arrangements of everything from PARADE of THE WOODEN SOLDIERS [#Y-6412] and ROSE of THE RIO GRANDE [#Y-6416] to hotter numbers like RUNNIN' WILD [#Y-6415] and an "OLD-TIME" MEDLEY (featuring Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight and My Gal Sal) [#Y-75408], which contrast sharply with the music of 1929, such as YOU'RE THE CREAM IN MY COFFEE [#Y-75416]. Just this snapshot list of some "played by Lutter" rolls suggest his versatility in the mathematical layout of perforated music!

At this point it would be appropriate to cite what is meant by the BROWN BOX series at the Welte-Deluxe/Kohler organization. Lutter had been put in charge of the Deluxe Reproducing Roll Corp. in 1921, and the promotional advertisements cited that he was a student of Rafael Joseffy (among others), adding that he was "...in large measure responsible for the excellent records of popular music released each month by this organization."

(Of course, while he was in his element with BUTTON UP YOUR OVERCOAT in 1929 [#Y-75433], Mr. Lutter could turn out an engaging ballad roll from The Vagabond King operetta, such as ONLY A ROSE [#Y-7261]. Medley rolls included such titles as Victor Herbert's light classical selection BADINAGE, YANKEE DOODLE, TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR, AFTER THE BALL and THE SAILOR'S HORNPIPE — diversity in every sense of the word! To stereotype Howard Lutter as a purveyor of "popular music" was a bit short-sighted on the part of the Kohler & Campbell publicity writers!)

The celebrated BROWN BOX rolls were an attempt to make the Kohler line of expression rolls have a "new look" ... something along the lines of a poor man's Duo-Art 'reproducing' roll. Brown boxes with false bottoms in many cases (to give the roll that Ampico/Duo-Art appearance) were decorated with the completely tacky slogan (in gold ink): "The Master's Fingers on Your Piano". What an ironic marketing scheme, since these high quality arrangements were completely from the 'drawing board' as it were, right down to the expression perforations. Yet, in spite of "The Master's Fingers ..." repeated on the roll leader, along with rather poorly-printed 'arty' designs in the Aeolian school of graphics ... these late Welte rolls rise above the false claims and give the listener spirited performances, well beyond most of the fare for the instruments by the House of Aeolian and/or The American Piano Company.

It should also be stated that Howard Lutter had a similar stereotype position at Welte-Deluxe that Frank C. Milne, W. Creary Woods and Rudy Erlebach did in the Duo-Art annals ... or the "2 Miltons" at Ampico, for that matter. Generally speaking, the staff had a "classical" or ballad/rubato musician around — and material from these 'demon' sight readers would be used for the Master Rolls by the mathematical arrangers such as Lutter, Erlebach, Delcamp and the rest. Thus, on classical and salon music, the same arranging "touch" is clearly visible to those who analyze and study the factory procedures (at any given time in history). Musicians such as Milne and Lutter often didn't appear on labels that featured the keyboard pianists as SOURCE MATERIAL, especially with phrased music of the Armbruster (Aeolian) variety. Also, staff employees like Mr. Lutter were also creating rolls in the names of other popular artists; these rolls would be completely arranged — with absolutely no attempt to simulate the performance style of the alleged pianist — and it's to Welte's credit that rolls by "Vee Lawnhust", "Harry Perrella", "Johnny (or Malcolm) Johnson" and "Ralph Reichenthal" (Ralph Rainger) were produced with different breaks, riffs and stylistic piano 'tricks' ... all designed to give the illusion of a different artist at the keyboard, even though the actual rolls 'reproduced' nothing of these peoples' genuine performance characteristics. There were, of course, a litany of Welte-Mignon pseudonyms under which Lutter worked, for many of the Deluxe 'records' — as the expression rolls were called in the brochures. (By contrast, Frank Milne at Aeolian became "George Gershwin", "Eddie Duchin", "Edythe Baker" and other famous artists, in addition to his own name and the famous pseudonyms such as "Ralph Addison" and the "Sherry Brothers", etc.)

What were the characteristics which made Howard Lutter's Deluxe rolls stand apart and above the competition from around 1923-on? Here's a list of what Mr. Henderson learned, some forty-odd years ago ... and these became the basis for modern Interpretive Arrangements — in both 'reproducing' and 88-Note formats:

1.) CREATIVE 'SUSTAINING PEDAL' EFFECTS:

The automatic sustaining pedal — a full-travel, slow-moving pneumatic system — is one of the MAJOR unsatisfactory aspects of the semi-automatic Pianola, in all its forms. The typical "single hole" pedal allows intelligent arranging decisions, which have nothing to do with the pianist's use of the device, and it's merely an "on" vs. "off" operation, triggered by a hole on the left margin of the tracker bar. Sadly, the Welte-Mignon was saddled with a "two hole" pedal setup, a jury-rigged offshoot of their player pipe organ valve designs; that is, two perforations on the right side of the tracker bar operated the same kind of pneumatic which lifted the dampers. This required approximately 5 times the space required for standard single punch pedal designs, or rather 5 thirty-second notes in timing ... way too slow for any artistic piano solo, and for any style of performance! The Welte player used approximately 2 holes for "on" to operate the pedal ... a single space, in most cases, for a 'break', followed by 2 holes for "off" for the automatic lifting/lowering of the damper felts. This is a SLOW pedal operation, and one that doesn't lend itself to virtuoso performances.

Enter Howard Lutter (and the Welte-Licensee policies of the time) and one can discern a different approach to the nasty pedal arrangement which was integral to the German-designed 'reproducing' mecahnism. Lutter and his associates used "artificial sostenuto" to elongate chords, just enough to buy enough time for the tedious "two hole" pedal to complete its "on"/"off" task. Then, the pedal was employed by pneumatic means, as on a standard "single hole" player action. By carefully juggling sostenuto against damper lifting, often giving the listener a ½ measure between the two techniques, an illusion of a fast and 'seamless' sustaining pedal effect was achieved, especially during the spectacular BROWN BOX era. (Compare the elegant sounding Lutter-era Welte-Licensee rolls with the ratty playing, and muddy pedal effects, which mired down the enjoyment for T-100 Red Welte and/or M. Welte & Sons [USA] etc. releases, rolls made from the German Masters and/or similar 'recording' equipment. The BROWN BOX rolls sparkle and strike the keys in a bouncy fashion. The 'legacy' rolls glide along irregularly, giving the effect of cold molasses dribbling out of the bottle. It's really amazing that these early German expression players were ever sold, due to the flawed rolls which were produced for them!)

Through imaginative ARRANGING techniques, which bore no resemblance to keyboard piano playing, Howard Lutter was able to create effervescent rolls, using the absolute worst design for a sustaining pedal that one could ever imagine!

2.) EXPRESSION SCORES WHICH USED THE 'FULL SCOPE' OF THE AUTOMATIC PLAYER ACTION:

Since the Pianola uses "organ" techniques (as exemplified in the many boring 'sheet music transfer' rolls of the past) there is an essential handicap. Unfortunately, most of the 'expression' rolls for Ampico and Duo-Art — exempting the special concert hall demonstration rolls — are FROZEN into "clusters" of striking patterns and dynamics. While the Kohler arranging policies, for the sake of economy, obviously required that the Welte-Deluxe rolls follow the homogeneous perforation lengths which make for bland music, Lutter's work transcended this by running the Licensee's graduated knife-valves UP and DOWN, rapidly ... and often for the full travel in each direction, yielding a true Pianissimo or a resounding Forte.

From studying the Welte expression, it was clear that the more "movement" there is in a 'reproducing' roll score, the more the listener ignores the cascades of notes which are IDENTICAL in length. Fast action in the expression player will override the tedium that lies in the note-score. Modern Interpretive Arrangements use "variable striking" (even in staccato playing!) which is essential if the performance is to sparkle.

The Welte organization went into for all sorts of baloney about 'recording' methods, including a "seismograph" device for the Licensee releases. Some of the claims sound as if they were written by a pot smoker! For example: "The Welte recording is perfect ... and only 3 men in America know the secret!" Do you, the reader, want know to the "secret" for making a Welte roll — without even playing upon a piano keyboard? Remember: This is ARRANGING pure and simple in the 'Twenties! Keeping in mind that the "on"/"off" nature of the Welte requires 2 holes for each function, the heart of the system consists of the SFORZANDO (sFz - LOUD) holes and the equally important MEZZO-FORTE device, which runs a "hook" or "stop" in the middle of the travel to hold the instrument in the "normal" range....and which recalibrates the system during performance. It takes approximately 6 holes for the SFORZANDO to go from P.P. (soft) to the maximum loudness, and hole #3 is approximately the M.F. intensity, just where the "hook" can be set to interrupt the knife valve's travel. Running the Welte expression is merely a matter of adding and subtracting dynamics via the 6 possible perforations, spaced throughout the score: +3, -1, +2, -1, -1 with the "hook" interrrupting the motion until it is released. The M.F. "hook" can hold the player in the middle playing range during a fast crescendo or a diminuendo. Study a few of Lutter's rolls and the Welte system should become evident ... and it was ingeniously simple as well. The Licensee also came equipped with a pair of efficient CRESCENDO LEVERS for the Pianolist, or the listener who wished to override some or all of the performance elements on a particular roll.

Over 40 years ago, Mr. Henderson asked himself, "Why does a mathematical roll, without even the benefits of overlap striking most of the time, sound so exciting ... when compared to the genuine 'hand-played' products of Welte's past?" The answer is: The MORE the ARRANGING the better the music! Patching up flawed material never really gets anywhere, in the final analysis. Since the typical Lutter Fox Trot roll followed mathematical principles from start to finish, from the note-striking to the expression score, it was obvious that any improvements in music roll development had to BEGIN with arranging for the instrument itself. The pianist on the label had to be eliminated. And that gilt slogan about "The Master's Fingers" stood as a testament to the naïveté of our ancestors. (If you don't believe this, see a silent movie drama ... and then consider the construction of the 'story', the 'acting'? and the formula use of the camera. People who bought these music rolls went to cinéma palaces to sob as Baby Peggy got mistreated or cheer when Clara Kimball Young triumphed over life's problems. It was a different age.)

BROWN BOX Welte-Mignon rolls taught Mr. Henderson that the audio recordings of pianists are the ONLY source for roll-making, which — to be scintillating — had to be an arranged musical project, completely free from the limitations and variables which are the flawed results of all keyboard 'recording' methods.

3.) NEW THEMATIC MATERIAL and VARIATIONS ARE THE 'KEY' TO EXCITING MUSIC ROLLS:

If you play Howard Lutter's "played by Harry Perrella" roll of COSSACK LOVE SONG from the Gershwin-Stothart operetta Song of The Flame (1926), you'll experience the essence of what makes these particular commercial Kohler rolls so special.

You don't need a Welte player for the BROWN BOX series, since the arranging was equally suitable for 88-Note players, when the top/bottom holes are taped over ... and for many late 'Twenties instruments which played 'repoducing' rolls via an eighty-key range or a cutoff system. Not only does this "Perrella" roll introduce atmospheric 'Volga/Russian' sound effects in the arrangement, but the listener is treated to an instrumental piano solo prior to the concluding reprise of the engaging melody. Were this a QRS, Duo-Art or Ampico roll of the period, the listener would get a "run through" of the verses and chorus and then the 'reroll' slot would kick in. With the Lutter-era Welte roll, the listener really doesn't know what to expect ... and this makes for musical fascination on the part of the listener!

Other rolls of the period are suggested, if you have access to recuts or originals from the Kohler & Campbell Deluxe library: MARY ANN "Johnny Johnson"; CHANGES Fox Trot "Vee Lawnhurst"; WHO? "Lawnhurst & Lutter" and/or THE DESERT SONG Medley "Julian Rodney". These, and many more late Welte rolls, toss out unexpected jazz breaks, mathematically-phrased variations and often present imaginative instrumental solos in the middle of the performance ... all facets which elevate the commercial roll to the realm of memorable performance.

While ARTCRAFT Music Rolls has consistently pointed-out the "missed opportunities" in old music rolls, and demonstrated this fact by re-mastering some of them for our own time (e.g. NEW KING of RAGTIME, etc.), you will see no brickbats aimed at the rolls made during the hey-day of the Lutter arranging techniques.

What happened to him after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 ... we'll probably never know at this late date. Yet, the performance improvements he brought to the production methods are still exciting to hear in our own time. It is doubtful today that Interpretive Arrangements would have ever been developed, had not Howard Lutter set the stage for the total return to ARRANGING. What a turnabout this was, since the original overseas Welte enterprise cooked up the whole "artist record" sales mystique (lie) from the beginning, which started an industry of false promotions regarding music rolls being pianists' 'recordings'! Lutter proved that the Welte could be a good performer when used in connection with his imaginative rolls ... and those he produced in the names of other people, both real artists and factory pseudonyms.

Discover the TRUE Welte "legacy" ... rolls arranged in N.J. and N.Y. by Howard Lutter (or is it Herr Kornbau?)


The Piano Technicians Guild
hosts a "music roll presentation"
by ARTCRAFT Music Rolls

Not so many years ago one would not expect to receive an invitation to speak and demonstrate Player-Piano rolls to a group of piano tuners. (Think how many player mechanisms were removed over the decades, in order to access the piano action itself. For decades there existed an uneasy — if not completely hostile — attitude toward the Pianola on the part of professional piano technicians.)

Conditions have changed today! That ARTCRAFT Music Rolls was invited to the Hartford, Connecticut Chapter of The Piano Technicians Guild shows how supportive contemporary pianomen (and pianowomen) are to the subject of a pneumatic player being installed in and around the traditional pianoforte action.

PTG member Doug Mahard (of Mahard's Piano Service in Woodbury, CT) called the Studio in Maine in late '97 about the possibility of a presentation, and the date was set for March 18, 1998. A Steinway Duo-Art 'XR' which was rebuilt by Shawn's Piano (Shawn H. Hoar) and Herbert Lindahl, Jr. was to be provided for the event. Approximately 40 members were scheduled to attend, and even a few guests arrived as well. Among the visitors were Marque Ampico owner (and musician) Michael Potash from Framingham, Mass. — formerly an officer in the Boston branch of a national player club — and concert pianist/musicologist Ira Braus, proud owner of an 1897 Weber grand piano.

A few words should be included about the quality of the Steinway player grand, for it was rescued from oblivion by the combined talents of Shawn's Piano and Herb Lindahl. Fitted with a new sounding board, a replacement hammer rail lift Soft Pedal (the original felt bar style mechanism was missing), a replacement piano action and a magnificently refinished case, it was difficult to imagine what the instrument looked like before the restoration began. This was an early Duo-Art 'XR' model, from 1915 ... and many of the features were a bit different from the perspective of the Pianolist, including the electric motor switch which toggled in the opposite direction from the typical Aeolian installation. As this instrument was too early to have the dynamic lever for NORMAL-SOFT-DANCE, Mr. Henderson used the foot-operated action shift while the Duo-Art, when dictated by the music roll, elevated the hammers. The player had been featured at PTG Conventions in Maine and Florida, playing ARTCRAFT Interpretive Arrangements, so this was Mr. Henderson's third encounter with the restored Steinway grand piano.

The program began with the spectacular roll of LINNMANIA-MARSEILLAISE ... a 1989 Pianola composition, commissioned by Douglas Heffer, the French representative for ARTCRAFT Rolls. All audience members were given, at the start of the presentation, a package of printed materials — including a special Cr02 Tape Cassette featuring LINNMANIA on the Studio 'AR' grand in Maine, since this fantastic piece exists as a "reference" for the impossible-to-play technical and dynamic feats of the Duo-Art action. (This number does everything a player can accomplish! We urge you to read the description of the roll on this Web page: http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/rolls1.htm — when you have the opportunity to do so. This Duo-Art article is also 'linked' to a text for the 88-Note Word Roll edition of the same Interpretive Arrangement.)

Some of the rolls which opened the ARTCRAFT programme were LION TAMER RAG, an unreleased 88-Note (two-piano transcription) of the Factotum ("Figaro") aria from The Barber of Seville, an in-progress roll of THE CARIOCA from Flying Down To Rio (versus a truncated performance of the comatose "Milne" arrangement issued by Aeolian-American) and a performance demonstration of 4 types of roll-making ... using the same musical example: a) a predictable 'sheet music transfer', b) a 'hand-played' irregular roll, c) a FAKE-'hand-played' roll made according to industry formulae of the 'Twenties and finally d) a genuine Interpretive Arrangement of modern times. Among the titles that were demonstrated was a "nothing" original Duo-Art roll of Dvorak's HUMOURESQUE, complete with one missed musical opportunity after another ... and practically no expression. Next, the same roll of HUMOURESQUE was played by overriding the lackluster expression with the Pianola levers, and the music sprang to life (within the confines of an old arrangement)! The program included a preview presentation of Mark Lutton's spectacular arrangement of Joplin's THE CHRYSANTHEMUM for 2-pianos and 8-hands (now for 1 Pianola!) and also the four-hand transcription of Lamb's CLEOPATRA RAG, originally created for a player club convention on the West Coast a number of years ago. The last roll on the program was Ian Whitcomb's COTTAGE BY THE SEA, a 'Twenties-like number subtitled "A Real Estate Love Song" from his recent musical Lotus Land.

Beyond the almost two-hours of music performance, there was a conference table set up for the occasion, featuring all sorts of music rolls laid out for examination and discussion: graph paper for roll-making ... "arranging" by hand-cutting offset perforations on a 1929 British 'hand-played' Master Roll ... some 'marked' music which came from the QRS 'recording' piano and the completed roll "made" from this erratic information ... before-and-after on a re-mastered Edna Bentz Duo-Art roll, plus all sorts of related material. Nobody who attended would ever again believe that a music roll was a 'recording' of an artist ... but rather, that the Arranger set the TONE for the performance, and the Pianolist (or listener) could MODIFY the music within certain parameters, fine-tuning it to individual taste.

The "comedy" performance of the day had to be Reginald Reynolds' absolutely awful arrangement of WALTZ of THE FLOWERS by Tchaikowsky, from the 1926 British PIANOLA PRACTICE ROLL. What should have been a sparkling staccato cadenza featured connected notes, as in pipe organ playing ... since it was 100% sheet music layout. The musical hilarity began when a NONSTOP sustaining pedal passage began, making a dissonance akin to the 12-tone system by Schoenberg. Printed on the roll by British Aeolian was the phrase: "Note the use of the Sustaining Pedal here." Since a version of this roll was given out with every Aeolian player instrument, it's no wonder that the English branch of the company lost money long before the Stock Market crash of 1929! The roll probably sold more British radios than anything else! Technicians couldn't believe that the roll had such terrible perforating and marking, so the passage was repeated once or twice to prove that the fault was with the ROLL, not the operator of the instrument!

Demonstrating the Player-Piano as an instrument of "personal involvement" (with great musical teaching potential) brought rounds of applause repeatedly during the evening. The chance to present Interpretive Arrangements side-by-side with good-and-bad commercial fare was an opportunity few Pianolists — let alone roll Arrangers — are ever given. We applaud the Connecticut PTG for giving the evening over to the musical possibilities of the Pianola and its rolls!

When Mr. Henderson returned to Wiscasset, Maine the next day, there was E-Mail from the audience already waiting in the computer, showing — if anything — how rapid modern communications are! (Doug Mahard's PO letter written on the 19th, on behalf of the Chapter, didn't arrive until several days later!)

We recommend that you get in touch with these Conn. PTG members for your piano needs, after seeing the splendid work going on in the area that day. Shawn's Piano is located at 221 Newfield Ave., West Hartford, CT 06133 - (860) 953-8885. Mahard's Piano Service is at 29 Orton Lane, Woodbury CT 06798 - (203) 266-4499. Herbert Lindahl's Piano Service is at 344 Miller Road, So. Windsor CT 06074 - (203) 644-9407. From sounding boards to cabinet work and action repair, it's obvious that the pianoforte is in good hands in the State of Connecticut!

Read the piano technicians' review of this same 3-18-98 Connecticut presentation!

Here's the April 1998 critique by PTG member Bruce MacLeod, from the April 1998 issue of their publication,
The Keybed
[Click here for the PTG article]


Back issues of "The PIANOLA News" —
Vol. I, No. 1 (1-10-98)
Vol I, No. 2 (1-17-98)
Vol. I, No. 3 (1-25-98)
Vol. I, No. 4 (2-1-98)
Vol. I, No. 5 (2-8-98)
Vol. I, No. 6 (2-16-98)
[Return to the current issue of The PIANOLA News]
[Original announcement for 'The PIANOLA News': 12-31-97]


- L. Douglas Henderson, dba ARTCRAFT Music Rolls, P.O. Box 295, Wiscasset, Maine 04578 (USA)
Telephone:
(207) 882-7420 - E-Mail: artcraft@wiscasset.net


A second ARTCRAFT Website? Not really, but a "toe in the water" featuring some basic information has been on the Internet for close to a year. There's a short bio on the business which might be of interest to 'hard-core' ARTCRAFT fans. Check out this URL: http://people.whowhere.com/pages/artcraft (Make sure that "www" isn't in this URL!)


LINKS to other Internet Websites