OFFICERS INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS CHAPTER OFFICERS

PRESIDENT NO. CALIFORNIA Bob Rosencrans Pres.: Howard Koff. 36 Hampden Rd. Vice Pres.: Phil McCoy Upper Darby, PA 19082 Sec.: Dick Reutlinger Treas.: Bill Wherry VICE PRESIDENT Reporter: Stuart Hunter Richard Drewniak 191 Capen Blvd. SO. CALIFORNIA AMICA MEMBERSHIP RATES: Amherst, NY 14226 Pres.: Prentiss Knowlton Vice Pres.: Elliott N. Lacy Continuing Members: $15 Dues SECRETARY Sec.: Evelyn Meeder New Members, add $5 processing fee Isadora Koff Treas.: Lewis Troffer 2141 Deodara Dr. Reporter: Bill Toeppe Lapsed Members, add $3 processing fee Los Altos, CA 94022 TEXAS BULLETIN Pres.: Tony Palmer Tom Beckett Vice Pres.: James Guinn 6817 Cliffbrook Sec/Treas.: Haden Vandiver Dallas, TX 75240 Reporter: Dick Barnes THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY MIDWEST (New memberships and Pres.: Milton Cooperman mailing problems) Vice Pres.: Jim Prendergast Anita Nickels Johnson Sec.: Jim Weisenborne Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' P. O. Box 666 Treas.: Alvin Wulfekuhl Association, a non·profit club devoted to the restoration, distribu· Grand June tion, CO 81501 Reporter: Molly Yeckley tion and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls. TREASURER PHILADELPHIA AREA Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the bulletin Jack & Mary Riffle Pres: Donald Wood are encouraged and invited by the pUblisher. All articles must be 5050 Eastside Calpella Rd. Vice Pres.: Larry Cornell received by the 10th of the preceding month. Every attempt will be Ukiah, CA 95482 Sec.: Barbara Macartney made to publish all articles of general Interest to AMICA members Treas.: Doris Berry at the earliest possible time and at the discretion of the publisher. BOARD REPRESENTATIVES Reporter: Dick Merrill til N. Cal: Frenk Loob ADVERTISING S. Cal: Dick Rigg Line ad rate: 8<1 per .word, $1.20 minimum. SOWNY (So. Ontario, West NY) Texas: Steve Chapman Pres.: Stan Aldridge Page rate: $12.50 per quarter page or multiple thereof. Phil.: Larry Cornell Vice Pres.: Chuck Hannen Ad copy w"l be typeset (at additional cost) only if requested. Midwest: Bill Eicher Sec.: Janet Drewniak Each photograph or half·tone, $5.00 SOWNY: Dave Gaudieri Treas.: Tom Zorn Rky. Mt.: Toni Hart Reporter: Jim Brewer Camera·ready copy that is oversized or undersized will be New Jer.: Dan Schacher changed to correct size at your cost. ROCKY MOUNTAIN Camera-ready copy must reach the publisher by the 10th of COMMITTEES Pres.: Robert Moore the preceeding month. Technical Sec.: Sharon Paetzold Cash must accompany order. Typesetting or size alteration Mel Luchetti Treas.: Carl Paetzold charges will be b"led separately. Make checks payable to 3449 Mauricia Ave. Reporter: James Bratton AMICA INTERNATIONAL. Santa Clara, CA 95051 All ads will appear on the last pages of the BULLETIN. at the NEW JERSEY discretion of the publisher. Honorary Members Pres.: Peter W. Brown AIL E. Werolin Vice Pres.: Francis J. Mayer Publication of business advertiSln9 in no way implies AMICA's 2230 Oakdale Rd. Sec.: Jeffrey Morgan endorsement of any commercial operation. However, AMICA re­ Hillsborough, CA 94010 Treas.: Glenn W. Grabinsky serves the fight to refuse any ad that is not in keeping with AMICA's Reporter: Betty Schacher general standards or If complaints are received indicating that said business does not serve the best interests of the members of AMICA, according to its goals.dnd by-laws.

AMICA Stationery, $3.20 (letter size), $1.75 AMICA ITEMS AMICA TECHNICALITIES BOOKS: Volume I (note size), including mailing charges. Fine (1969-1971). $5.50 postpaid; Volume II (1972· quality stationery with ornate AM ICA borders. FOR SALE 1974). $7 .. 50 postpaid; or order both sets for AMICA BULLETINS, BOUND ISSUES: 1969, Each packet contains 25 letters and matching $12.50 postpaid. Reprints of interesting techni· $9; 1971, $15; 1972, $15; 1973, $15; 1974 envelopes. Send orders to Robert Lemon, 4560 calities articles which have appeared in the unbound sets, $15; 1974 bound sets, $18; Green Tree Drive, Sacramento, CA 94823. AM ICA Bulletin, arranged and indexed into 1975 bound, $18; 1976 bound, $18, PRICES appropriate categories, spiral bound to lie flat. INCLUDE POSTAGE AND HANDLING. Spiral "They All Laughed When I Sat Down At The Send orders to Howard Koff., 2141 Deodara bound to lie flat. Send to Mary Lilien, 4260 Piano, But When IT Began To Play ..." Drive, Los Altos, CA 94022. Olympiad Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90043. This sound and color super-8 movie, produced ROLL LEADERS: DUO·ART, Authentic. For AMICA Sterling Silver Pins, $4.25, including by AM ICA members, is again available for loan order sheet, see the April, 1973 Bulletin. Nick mailing charges. Lapel pin or tie tack with to AMICA members and chapters. For more Jarrett, 3622 - 21 st Street, San Francisco, CA AMICA design. Order from Robert Lemon, information write to Howard Koff, 2141 94114. 4560 Green Tree Drive, Sacramento, CA 94823. Deodara Drive, Los Altos, CA 94022. Jnfernafional JlcfJ(JfBJl

1977 AMICA CONVENTION IN MEMORIUM ED nOR I S NOTE: CHARLES F. "TOO" CARNES This issue of the Bulletin deals primarily with the Died July 24, 1977 - Oakland California. September 1-4 AMICA Convention just concluded in San AMICA Treasurer' 1965-70. Avid collector Francisco. On top of expending super-human effort in of pianos and rolls. putting it all together, I asked the Convention Com­ mittee to speed all convention write-ups to me so I could publish them in the October issue. Since my EUGENE EBRIGHT deadline is the 10th, that really was asking a lot! But they came through marvelously - everything got Eugene Ebright, an AMICA member of Joplin, covered, and some things even got covered twice! This was killed in a private plane crash on left me with the dilemma: which article do I publish? Thursday, August 18. 1977. Besides Eugene's Couple all this with the fact that I was out of town interest in flying, he was an avid AMICA for 5 days attending a publisher's conference at the member and was one of the dedicated members deadline time - well, you can understand why the Bul­ that helped with the 1976 Mini-Convention letin is a little late. My apologies to those who in Joplin. wrote duplicate articles. In most cases, the first one received was the one printed because it was usual­ ly typed and ready for paste-up by the time the second one arrived. In a few instances I used the longer ar­ COMPUTER INFORMATION NEEDED ticle. But I want to thank all of you for your work and for the job you did on the convention. It was Any member who has computer time available, either tremendous! free or for a fee, to process the AMICA membership file please contact - David Gaudieri, 30 Walnut Pk., Rochester. NY 14622 - The machine must be an IBM S/360 or S/370 runnir'9 standard OS/360 or OS/VS WINE TASTING PARTY and PL/ I. OPENS CONVENTION FESTIVITIES BY FRANK LOOB Bulletin Cover; This month's cover was taken When it was decided to do a \,ine tasting at the AMICA from the 1977 AMICA Convention brochure design Convention in San Francisco, Christian Brothers in prepared by Mel Luchetti. Napa Valley was contacted and they very obligingly decided to conduct a wine tasting for us using some AMICA CONVENTION: of their premium wines. Wine tasting party 180 Friday technical sessions 181 Victorian house tour 182 Robert Armbruster concert 183 Ursula Deitrich-Hollinshead concert 183 Edwin Lester lecture 184 Social Notes (Alice B. Ampico) 184 Carillon to Ampichron 186 Saturday technical sessions 187 Convention Report - overview 188 Tom Hazleton concert 192 Ralston Mansion tour 192 Eubie Blake concert 193 Social Notes (Doris Duoart) 193 Ruth Bingaman Smith concert 194 Flora Mora concert 195 Dennis Condon film 195 Frank Denke concert 196 Jarod Clark open house 196 ROLLS & MUSIC 198 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 199 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 200 TEXAS 201 MIDWEST 202 SOWNY 203 TECHNICALITIES 205 Some of the wine tasting display set out by the representatives of Christian Brothers. - 180 - Jnfernafionat JlJKJ(8Jl .tt..,---..

Behind the scenes, Dick Reutlinger had his own unique The contingent from Christian Brothers consisting problems getting the local California Alcohol Bever­ of the able Randy Vahanian and his co-worker, Mel age Control-representative to allow the wine tasting Palmer arrived promptly at 6 P.M. just as the cable to be held in his home. Finally a phone call to car buses started discharging the first merry throng Sacra,mento to the "head people" straightened out the of conventioneers from the hotel. The wine tasting problem and we got the final OK about three days tables were gaily decorated with bunches of grapes before the date of I September. and display bottles of the wine to be tasted. The Victorian home was immaculate from top to bottom and while the wine was being poured our members wandered through the home "oohing" and "aahing" over the im­ peccably restored interior of Dick's home with all its lovely furnishings.

The dining room tables contained hors' d'oeuvres and a selection of delectable cheeses to accompany the wine. Diane Hayden, our hostess for the evening chose the cheeses with excellent taste to be just "right" for the wine. The wines served were two whites; Johannisberg Reisling and a Fume Blanc; two reds, a Gamay Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon and a very new just released LaSalle Rose. All of this delicious combination of food, wine, comraderie among members and a superb setting for such an occasion contributed to a truly gala beginning for a truly memorable convention.

At the outside stairs to Dick Reutlinger's home ­ Isadora Koff ascending. -

Sally Lawrence chose the Cable Car buses to shuttle the convention goers from the San Franciscan Hotel to Dick's home at 824 Grove street which is our ~lICA Headquarters in San Francisco and co-incidentally the site of our first museum.

Center: Nick Jarrett and Terry Smythe in the "wine tasting room", Bea Loob at right. Accompanied by the sounds of all the museum's instru­ ments as well as Dick's own collection, this was an AMICA unique contribution to a great evening ending with the guests riding back to the convention hotel in style on a typically San Francisco cable car bus.

FRIDAY TECHNICAL SESSIONS BY BILL WHERRY Bill Johnson and Bill Wherry were the moderators L. to R.: Frank Loob, Ruth Bingaman Smith and Dick Friday morning on basic techniques of restoration Reutlinger. work. Not too much can be said about what to choose

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in the way of instruments - the general consensus these two flats is dramatic proof of how well identi­ beingc if you can find it, if it's mostly all there, cal Victorian premises can be adapted to the tastes and if it hasn't spent the better part of it's life and uses of their occupants. The lower flat now serves in a waterlogged basement Qr some similar deplorable as the home and busy studio of a successful interior situation, then buy it, tak~c it home and restore it. designer.

Some controversy was generated over what to use re­ The real treat of the tour was a grandly impressive covering pneumatics, ie. is rubber cloth superior or Stick-Eastlake built in 1875. It housed the Imperial inferior to one of the newer synthetics on the market? Russian Consulate from 1879 to 1881. In the mid-30's the lfuite Russians returned to the building to use it How accurately to set valve travel caused some com­ as a social center. The present interior furnishings ment with the use of a circular dial guage accurate are completely in keeping with the grand scale and to one one-thousandth of an inch being the ultimate. elaborately carved woodwork of the rooms, resulting in an interior in the romantic aristocratic tradition What kinds of glue to use sparked more discussion. of Nvrthern Europe prior to World War One. There were those who professed exclusive use of heated animal glue only. Others would use hot glue only. It was pointed out hot glue can't be used with some synthetics 1ike nylon or Bilon.

To pol ish and refinish metal and wood parts is in­ creasingly being condemmed by purists who recognize these musical machines as the antiques they are be­ coming. A happy medium has to be found somewhere. It was felt it wasn't necessary to destroy the char­ aracter and patina of an old piece if said piece pos­ sessed these qual ities. New player pianos are being manufactured today to satisfy those who want brand new showroom quality. On the other hand, where cor­ rosion and decay have become rampant, not much choice is given the restorer but to renew partially or to­ ta 11 y.

Finally, the morning ended with where and whom to buy materials from. ~'. Cable car bus on Victorian tour - Isadora descending. SAN FRANCISCO VICTORIAN HOUSE TOUR The fourth Victorian was basically Second Empire with flattened arches and angular bay windows. Built in BY PHYLLIS MCCOY 1871, this house has been extensively remodeled. Re­ cords indicate that this was originally a one-story, Those who opted to take a break from the technical one-family dwelling with the second story being added sessions on Friday boarded three charming motorized in 1895. The house is distinguished by pipe stem cable cars and chugged merrily up and down the hills colonettes on the angular bay window and good carved of San Francisco. double front doors. The balcony over the front door is decorative only, a typical Victorian characteristic. Our first stop was a classic flat-front Italianate which still has its original wrought iron fence and The final house was a darling little Queen Anne work­ gate. In recent years, the house went through a ser­ ing man's cottage built in 1892. The exterior details ies of disastrous occupancies and had been condemmed with sawtooth and fish scale shingles on the second when the present owners bought it a year ago. For­ floor, and the horizonta' siding of the first floor, tunately, the stair railing and the fireplaces had and the octagonal corner tower are typical Queen Anne been protected by multiple layers of paint. As did architectural features. The present owner has art­ several houses on this tour, this house demonstrates fully furnished the house with treasures belonging the versatility of good original spatial design. to his grandparents. He graciously served coffee, cookies, and delicious home-baked fruit bread to about Next we stopped at a two-story, two-flat Stick-East­ 175 cold, weary AMICAns. We were impressed by his lake on McCallister Street built in 1889. The upper beautiful silver coffee service and hundreds of match­ flat has traditionally been occupied by the owner, ing china cups and saucers. Among the owner's various as it is now. It is well preserved, in nearly orig­ collections, the mechanical birds were of particular inal condition with operating gas lights and many interest. original fixtures. The lower flat has always been used as an income unit. The present owner of the A marvelous time was had by all and we sincerely wish building is only the fourth owner since the last heir to thank the Victorian Alliance and the owners of of the original owner died in 1961. The contrast of these beautiful homes for this unforgettable tour.

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early as they could not stay for the entire convention, 8······································__ ·····-·······..-...- but only after wringing from him a promise to return for our next convention. URSULA DEITRICH-HOLLINSHEAD PERFORMANCE ­

AMICA CONVENTION - FRIDAY J SEPTEMBER 2J 1977,

The concert at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Friday, • September 2 was given jointly by Ursula Deitrich­ Hollinshead and her granddaughter, Jeanette Hollin­ ROBERT ARMBRUSTER CONCERT shead. Our great lady is now 91 years of age and may we tell BY FRANK LOOB the members who did not see her at the convention she is the same Ursula that comes across with charm On the first full day of convention activities, and wit. Robert Armbruster, one of our dearest friends and honorary members gave a concert in the main bal 1­ room of our convention hotel in San Francisco. Play­ ing the Mason & Haml in and also the Steinway which were set up on the stage, he performed in his usual very talented manner. A superb craftsman at the key­ board he was indeed at his peak form that afternoon.

Ursula Deitrich-Hollinshead. She was greeted with a tremendous applause as she spoke and announced her firs t number, "Echo D' Amour," that she had composed. This was done in comparison with her Duo-Art recording. Her playing was going flawlessly and at the appointed time to break into Robert Armbruster. the race - it didn't happen. In the haste to set up the pianos no one had plugged in the Duo-Art. A For his first performance he played a composition by lesser artist could have been dismayed but not our Ravel, "Santine in F Sharp Minor." Next were per­ Ursula. The problem solved, she proceeded to a glo­ formances of compositions by Chopin, a Nocturne; De rious finish. Severac, the "Return of the Mule Drivers"; Ypurnoff, a Russian composer a piece called "The Bells" from She then played her Ampico recording of Godard's the "Transcendental Etudes," and lastly a Franz "Venitienne - 4th Bararolle" and Makrejs' "Valcik" Liszt composition of music celebrating the l04th in comparison concert (with the electricity on) to Petrarch sonnet. a standing ovation.

The applause was resounding, the music superb and ursula then introduced her lovely granddaughter who this was indeed a beutiful beginning of what was to is a student of music at Trinity College in San An­ be several del ightful performances by our other hon­ tonio. This talented young lady played three se­ orary members. lections: "Papillon" by Alexander Tcherpnin, "Orien­ tale" by Granados, and "Etude D Major" by Liszt. To Robert and his lovely wife Al ice we said our adieus Her brilliant playing and charm and beauty endeared

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Jeanette to all the members on her first note. Edwin Lester was no longer with Ampico someone as­ sumed that his name was one of the stock pseudonyms The next selection was a new concert version of the and proceeded to credit him with recordings he never composition "Sandman's Frolic" that Ursula had writ­ made. Mr. Lester also disclaimed ever having made ten and was cut by AMICA after the Los Angeles con­ any Duo-Art recordings. vention. She added the second part for the duet. Mr. Lester told many dalightful anecdotes relating to concert artists he knew and people he met in the piano business. He said that it was hearing Leopold Godowsky's Ampico recording of Chopin's "A-Flat Bal­ lade" which convinced him to join and play for the Ampico. Two of Mr. Lester's Ampico recordings were then played for the audience to close a most inter­ esting and enjoyable convention session. AI£. E. Werolin

Jeanette Hollinshead.

Ursula was playing on the Mason & Hamlin while Jea­ nette deftly fingered the Steinway. It was a thor­ oughly delightful performance and what made it even better, we now know Jeanette.

Thank you gracious ladies of San Antonio!

Edwin Lester. SUMMARY OF EDWIN LESTERS REMARKS - AMICA CONVENTION) FRIDAY) SEPTEMBER 2) 1977, SOCIAL NOTES Edwin Lester, an Ampico recording artist, a former Ampico salesman and merchandiser, and founder in 1938 BY ALICE B. AMPICO* of both the San Francisco and Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Association - in which he continues actively ­ reminisced in the late Friday afternoon session about *Alice is well known to the San Francisco Found­ his early experiences with the Ampico Corporation. ing Chapter where she held sway in the social colulTU1s until her feud with Doris Duo Art reach­ He described a number of amusing experiences as a such epic proportions the newsprint vendors piano and Ampico salesman in the early 20's which could up the asbestos content of their product proved so successful that he received the American no more. Perhaps there WAS a plot! -- Ed. Piano Company's top Ampico salesman's award. Although a number of Ampico recordings are attributed to Mr. Hellooo all you readers in AMICAland and all the ships Lester, he declined having made all but three: "Gyp­ at sea. I've just returned from a somewhat unfortun­ sy Love Waltzes," "Romberg's Waltzes," and the "Sari ate, enforced two-year round-the-world cruise on the Waltzes." He explained that it was the practice of freighter Polish Princess. Unfortunate in that I ori­ the Ampico Corporation (as it was also of Duo-Art) ginally thought I was merely attending a Bon Voyage to use pseudonyms when it was felt that too many re­ party for my rival and DEAREST FRIEND, Doris Duo Art-­ cordings were being released with the same artist's how was I to know that SOMEONE moved Doris' stateroom name on them and also to build up the list of pian­ number to a hatch cover--by the time I came to and ists recording for the company. Apparently after found my way out of Hold 14 we'd been long at sea-­ Doris was never found aboard--she was not listed on - 184 - Jnfernafional JlJ&Jr8Jl .,t.---.

the freight manifest. Enforced in that shortly before bar at the Hotel's Black Bart Saloon•.. AMICAns always my emergence Captain Dumbuttski decided the shortest overcome ..•! steered clear of those cute jail cells at way across South America was up the Amazon--have YOU the back! (Alice is suspicious anymore) --opting for ever tried to turn a freighter in a river? We wore the Wells Fargo Stagecoach for cozy tete-a-tetes with out several reverse gears and the natives jeered! If the glitterati... I understand the Hospitality Suite only Doris had sent along her broomstick I could have (down the alley and to the left) handled the bar over­ flown home--that girl's really unfriendly! flow--12 cases of beer consumed and 85¢ contributed to the kitty. AMICAns are TOO generous ... I knew the gen­ eral tone of the convention was set the first after­ noon when Penny L. arrived sans luggage MUCH to the consternation of the front desk--his eyebrows are still above his hairline•..And wouldn't you know that Molly Y. must carryon her tradition of getting locked in--this t'ime at 824 Grove Street--seems someone left her in charge (she's the housemother type) and took the key...Typical in the fashion of so many glittering functions at that address, the wine arrived slightly AFTER the guests...Convention Chairperson, Sally L., is apparently looking askance at her finance chairman-­ living approximately 8 blocks from the hotel but check­ ing in with his matched Safeway luggage (eat your heart out, Penny) Richard 'was observed using the room

Sally Lawrence during "Carillon to Ampichron".

Dick Kroeckel entertains - the cigar is part of the performance! at least 2 hours during the four days--now does that add up to fiscal responsibility? .•The artists' con­ certs were varied, interesting and enjoyable and all adhered to the general theme of the Convention--Rhap­ sody in Blue•.• lsaroda K. was observed demonstrating a new listening posture--we're not sure whether it's fetal or merely one of the three monkeys..•Nick J. has perfected a new manner of playing the Ampico rolls by hand, but SOMEONE should have explained that he also Tea Dancing in the San Franciscan Ballroom. needed to suck a tube since the demo was apparently planned without electricity••• I always adore a suc­ Anyhoo--so happy to have made it back to EVERYONE'S cinct summary of the development of the mechanical mu- Favorite City, San Francisco, in time for AMICA's 5th sic industry--simply a transition from pluckin' to ~ International Bash--uh, Convention. Elegant as ever, suckin' •.•The The Dansant was a revelation! •••• some ~ the San Franciscan Hotel even polished the lobby spit­ AMICAns haven't bought clothes in years! ....Garner B. toons. The local water shortage was certainly evident was elegant in cut-away, cravat & white gloves plus --witness record number of AMICAns bellying up to the monocle (of course, silly, he also wore clothes) •••

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such a sight! ..• Molly Y. was ravishing in Theda Bara hanq-me-downs--how long has it been since YOU'VE seen a finger compact...Ursula D. H. put everyone to shame by proving that age and grace can go hand in hand do­ ing the Apollo Glide...After-hour Villains of this Convention turned out to be Santa Rosan Phil McC. with his half gallons of Scotch and ragtime pianist Dick Kr. from Denver--do they never sleep in Denver? •• These two led many INNOCENTS ASTRAY ...Thank heaven they don't have bed checks at AMICA conventions... Hotel Catering Mgr. Greg C. commented he'd never seen a convention where someone NEVER slept--ballroom in use 24 hours a day...Jim WeisenB. invited Richard R. to bring his tap shoes to Dayton after an interesting tabletop terpsichorean exhibition involving the shak­ ing out of Molly's feather boa ...shortly thereafter in a fit of jealousy, M. Y. sent R. R. tripping the light fantastic STRAIGHT into a table and he has the taped ribs to prove it...DON'T MESS WITH MOLLY. That about wraps up the 77 bash...my'spies reports are still com­ ing in, but deadlines, y'know. Till we meet again..•.

AMICA FOUNDATION Part of the "Carillon to Ampichron" audience. presents sense, Mel demon~trated his own regina 27" disc music box with its delightfully charming soft music. Next FROM CARILLON TO AMPICHRON came a demonstration of a player reed organ, and by photos and words, Mel demonstrated Automata,the auto­ Hotel 5an Franciscan mated figures with music that entertained the Victo­ Ballroom rians. Market at Eighth September 2. 1977 6:30 p,m. $4.00

CONVENTION ENJOYS "ILLUSTRATED" HISTORY OF AUTOMATIC MUSIC BY LLOYD B. EGENES The 1977 AMICA Convention in San Francisco was greatly entertained, as well as educated, by the history of automatic musical instruments in a presentation en­ titled: "From Carillon to Ampichron, or, Don't Shoot the Pi ano Pl ayer - It 's Doi ng Its Best." The pre­ sentation was given in animated lecture style by Mr. Mel Luchetti with the able assistance of Sally Lawrence (otherwise noted as the Convention Chairman), as well as the t'emarkab 1emus i ca 1 ta1ent of Di ck Reut 1i nger on his Wurlitzer Photoplayer. Some 15 heavy instruments were moved into the Ball­ room at great effort and expense for the performance. Dick Reutlinger at the photoplayer. The program began with the beginnings of automated music, the ancient carillons from Europe, which were Moving deeper into this century, the Mills Violano displayed via photos and sound. Next came the per­ Virtuoso entertained the audience with its remarkable formances of cylinder music boxes and then a barrel violin-piano combination. This particular instrument _ organ, in this case a Gaviolli from the col,lection came from the collection of Bill and Ann Johnson. And of Al Neilson. Two small but magnificent bird boxes prior ,to the intermission, the group was dazzled by (music boxes emulating the voices of birds) were dem­ a look at part of the silent movie, "The Great Train onstrated from the collection of Dale and Sally Law­ Robbery" with music created and adapted by Dick Reut­ rence. Followinq the development in a chronological linger playing and assisting his own Wurlitzer photo- - 186 - Jnfernafional JlJ!{J(8Jl player, giving an almost intimate return to the days Next it was Iver Becklund's turn to demonstrate his of silent movies. beautiful new player piano and orchestrion spool box designs. The foot-pumped piano player was the next subject and in this case Mel demonstrated a newly manufac­ Last but not least, Wayne Stanky explained the cas­ tured instrument and showed how the operator could in­ sette converter for the Ampico reproducing pianos. ject some styling by the manner of pumping. The This system allows the use of pre-recorded cassette naughty (but nice) music of the saloons and bawdy tapes to operate the player.

ANGELUS ARTRIO TECHNICAL SESSION BY ED HAYDEN Saturday's first technical session started with a short history of the Wilcox and White Company of Meridan Connecticut who made the Angelus-Artrio Reproducing Piano. It was followed by an explanation of the Artrio expression system.

The highlight of this technical session was when the Artrio was demonstrated. The attention shown by the assemblage of listeners and picture takers at the convention made the three years spent restoring the Angelus-Artrio worth every hour. Comments like "That's the best sounding upright reproducer that I have ever heard" by people whose opinion I respect (and now respect even more) make me glad that I could take the piano to the convention. I'd like to thank ~ all my fellow AMICAns for allowing me to play my ~ Angelus-Artrio for them.

Sally Lawrence and Mel Luchetti instructing. Artrio uber Alles. houses livened the program with the exciting music from Bill Wherry's Empress Electric Orchestrion. CASSETTE CONCERT And of cours~, the program ended with the usual debate as to whether the Duo-Art or the Ampico produced the BY SALLY LAWRENCE really finest automatic music. The Duo-Art in this case was in the Steinway owned by Howard and Isadora The new CC-3 Cassette Converter for the Ampico A or Koff and the other was Mel's own Mason &Hamlin Ampico. B models was brought to the convention. The mechan­ In sum, the evening~ program was a delight of musical ism was put on a lovely Mason &Hamlin grand piano entertainment and history. owned by Mel Luchetti. The concert Friday afternoon was living proof that it works. Pieces by Rachmaninoff and the famous Din­ SATURDAY TECHNICAL SESSIONS ner Music were played by the new system. It was a truly remarkable demonstration of the performance of BY BOB &SONJA LEMON this new product. It is nice that by the purchase of the tapes that you can store your library in a The technical sessions on Saturday morning were well very small area. You can also play rolls or play by attended. Ed Hayden opened the session with a brief hand. history of the Artrio-Angelus piano and the develop­ ment of the reproducing system. He then showed a We were most grateful to Wayne Stanky, the developer, cut-away box of the reproducing mechanism and demon­ for bringing the mechanism to San Francisco at the strated its capabilities on his superbly restored last minute. Mel Shores was to have come up to in· upright Artrio-Angelus. stall it but he was suddenly taken ill and was unable to come. Thanks to Wayne, it was a thrill for all Doug Hickling was next with the history of the Welte who had the opportunity to hear the concert. and Duo-Art player pianos and the WeI te organ. He showed slides of the original factory then and now. Doug has spent a great deal of time writing letters and gathering information from all over the world from people associated with the Welte manufacture. Convention photographs provided by Stu Hunter.

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the way to Vietnam, and we "old hands" were anxious to ACONVENTIONAL REPORT show them as much of the city as possible. Thinking about all the places we went that morning makes me al­ BY CAROLE BECKETT most dizzy, but the day was clear and blue and cool and invigorating-the kind of day that makes you be­ ~lICA's award-winning reporter, Molly Yeckley was con­ lieve you can do anything. tinuing her travels south to visit San Simeon and oth­ er points, so the writing of an "overview" was dele­ gated to me. I put it off as long as possible, know­ ing I could never do the job as Molly would have (for one thing she stayed up night and day so she knew more of the inside stories)!

We arrived in San Francisco Wednesday evening with fellow Texas AMICAns, Wade and Becky Newton, and suc­ ceeded with'difficulty in piloting our rented car to the Hotel San Franciscan (it stalled frequently-- once on the Bayshore Freeway). We arrived with real style--came in the back door and carried our own bags -which I have to take the credit for because I didn't want Tom to stop on Market Street when surely there was a place to pull in on the side. (There wasn't.)

Reba and Winston Jones in conversation with Ai Cooperman.

Dick Reutlinger, Sally Lawrence and Frank Loob.

After investigating our rooms, comparing bathroom sizes, and a hurried unpacking, we adjourned to the lobby, confident that we weren't the only early arriv­ ers. The Hotel was built just after the 1906 earth­ quake and served as City Hall for a while during the reconstruction period. It has been recently redone, but retains a Victorian charm and we all took its little idiosyncrasies to our hearts. We finally found Frank Adams and Mark Maynard from Seattle and 'enjoyed ursula Deitrich-Hollinshead and Roberta Cherney. a drink with them in the Black Bart Saloon, but we made it an early evening--ll:30 p.m. is 1:30 a.m Texas At midafternoon we checked back at the hotel. Instru­ time! ments were pouring into the Ballroom and the conven­ tion committee people were all there supervising and Next morning we were all up and ready to go by 7:30 praying that nothing would be damaged. Isadora Koff, (that time change is really a problem in the mornings). with a sly grin, personally registered us. We opened This was the Newtons' first trip to San Francisco, un­ our packs and found name badges for "Bubbles" and "Os­ less you want to count the time Wade passed through on sip Gabrilowitsc~' Beckett. (Ossip was a name Tom had - 188 - Jnfernafionaf JtJr(JfBJt

finally mastered when typing-he's still working on Leschetizky- and I don't know where "Bubbles came from.) Fortunately, for those AMICAns who don't knolv us, the real badges were underneath. The graphics, by the way, were all done by Mel Luchetti, including hand coloring the red boarder around each badge.

L. to R.: Alf Werolin, Flora Mora and Barbara Whitely.

missed the fine performances of Robert Armbruster, Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead, and EdlVin Lester, which I truly regret. However, I could not resist an oppor­ tunity to visit the stores around Union Square, and ~ Becky, an orchid enthusiast, knew of a large commer- ~ Eubie Blake - a popular figure at the convention. cial orchid grolVer in South San Francisco that she didn't lVant to miss. When we came back with laden As if we hadn't already crammed enough activities for arms, including a very large orchid plant (Do you know 3 days into part of one, we were off again for a drive what a heavenly fragrance an orchid has?), we were met through Golden Gate Park, then over the Golden Gate lVith groans of dismay and then gloatingly told that we Bridge for dinner in Sausalito, and back to the wine had missed some tremendous playing. tasting at Dick Reutlinger's. Dick's restored Victor­ ian is a dream of a house. It adapted very lVell for a The evening's entertainment lVas the pr~sentation of large crowd I thought. The lVine and cheese Ivere deli­ "From Carrillon to Ampichnm" or "Don't Shoot the cious. Best of all here were all the AMICAns, famil­ Piano Player, It's Doing Its Best." We've heard so iar faces and faces of friends~to-be. And I got to much about this AMICA Foundation show that it lVas a take pictures of several of our Honorary Members.

The next morning dawned foggy and cold, a real taste of San Francisco weather patterns. Not everyone was prepared for such cool temperatures in September, but to' us the contrast with our hot, hot, summer was heav­ enly. If I had been smart I would have stayed for the technical sessions on rebuilding that morning since "my" Duo Art is sitting upstairs awaiting restoration. But we had been looking forward to the Victorian House Tour and we were not disappointed. The cable car bus­ es took us to 5 different houses and along the lVay the drivers offered other commentary on the sights we were passing. Our guide from the Victorian Home Alliance was really superb. Since the group was too large to tour the houses all at once, he delighted those IVho were waiting outside (and blowing on their hands and stamping their feet) with tales of the city-anecdotes and historical facts. I came home Ivith tlvO heavy books on the subject which he recommended!

That afternoon I'm afraid I must admit that Becky and I played "hooky" from the afternoon sessions, and lVe Jeanette and Ursula in duet. - 189 - Jnternational JlcJf{JBJl

technical sessions including a talk on the Artrio-An­ gelus by Ed Hayden, the fascinating study done by Doug Hickling on the companies that built player pipe or­ gans (right down Tom and Wade's alley), a demonstra­ tion of the tape mechanism for the Ampico, and a talk on some player piano innovations by Iver Becklund.

After lunch we piled into 4 buses and treked south to Woodside and Belmont. (I was happy to see that in spite of the terrible drought, things weren't quite as brown and dead as I had feared. But let's all pray for rain for California this winter! It's really a crisis.) In Woodside we \~ere treated to a combination concert on the Jackling Estate player organ. The live playing of Tom Hazleton was intermixed with the organ's own efforts via its Kilgen and Aeolian Duo-Art players. Sorry, but the live player gets my vote hands down-­ (no pun intended, but it worked out nicely, didn't it) especially his own fugue on the theme "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh, What a Relief It Is."

In Belmont we visited the estate of William Ralston-­ truly a baronial manor. There we heard the Becklund's Members admire one of Dick Reutlinger's photoplayers. Welte Vorsetzer and a Steinway in the ballroom, and were given a brief tour. That house is simply incred­ ible. I could hardly believe that real, live, ordi­ privilege to at last be able to see what it was all nary flesh and blood people once called it homel about. Mel Luchetti did all the talking-Sally Law­ rence did the cranking and winding and "grinding." Mel did demonstrate the pumper piano himself. He pro­ fessed a great love for this activity but I wonder if things would have been different had Sally not been limping on a recently broken ankle! Seriously, it was a great presentation, well written and professionally done. It's marvelous public relations for AMICA and for the saving of all automatic musical instruments.

Saturday the fog was low in the morning as we awoke to the mournful cry of foghorns. But it cleared early for another glorious day. The morning was filled with

The wine tasting room never lacked for AMICAns!

After another scrumptious meal (the food was a far cry from the usual hotel convention fare) we all crowded up to see Eubie Blake--and what a special evening of music it was. Eubie's reminiscences and anecdotes were as fascinating as his musical style and his long, long fingers. He talks to himself, the audience, and his fingers as he plays and makes the observer feel right at home with him. After a lovely concert he played encore after encore until he finally laughed Bill Johnson in discussion with Janet Drewniak and and pleaded out because of his age. No matter how old Molly Yeckley - recalling the Buf5'falo "lock-in" no statistics may say he is, Eubie Blake will always be doubt! young! - 190 - Jnfernafional JlcJJ(J(BJl

Sunday we finally managed to sleep in a little (our have a Tea Dance, I'm visiting Arthur Murrary before­ internal '!clocks" were finally getting the message). hand! Anyway, the tea and petit fours \~ere nice. After brunch we heard another Honorary Member concert, this one by Ruth Bingaman Smith. We had by then dis­ After all the \~onderful activities, the Banquet had covered that the mezzanine balcony around the ball­ to be an anticlimax, right? Wrong! I've already men­ room was ideal for listening and seeing and so we tioned the fabulous food. Then Tom enjoyed presenting really had the best seats in the house for the remain­ the Writer's Awards to Roger Torkelson, Molly Yeckley, ing performances. Known to many of us already from and Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead--especially to the two her past convention appearances, Ruth was again the ladies who each "awarded" him a kiss in return. He gracious and charming artist we remembered and she expressed his pleasure in doing the bulletin and his played to a standing ovation. gratitude for all the very fine material AMICAns con­ tribute monthly. Then all the convention committee The last Honorary Member concert was later that day and the hotel staff who made the whole thing work were after the Annual Meeting and the Tea Dance. It was recognized, and the evening concluded (almost) with especially a delight because Flora Mora has only re­ the playing of Frank Denke. And what a spectacular cently become an AMICAn, and not too many of us were finish! Everything from ragtime to classics. We were familiar with her music. Her perfectly beautiful play­ sitting where we could see Eubie Blake and his reac­ ing and her delightful explanation of the music en­ tions were a marvelous compliment to Mr. Denke--it was chanted the audience and I'm sure there will ensue a hard to decide who to watch! After a ragtime piece, mighty search to turn up any and all Flora Mora re­ Eubie led all of us in a standing ovation. It was a cordings. Recuts possible? fitting conclusion to the Banquet.

L. to R.: Jack Riffle, Bill Johnson and Mary Riffle.

But not quite a conclusion. By popular demand, Dick Kroeckel, a Colorado AMICAn who entertained the after­ hours bunch several evenings running with his inimi­ table piano style, came on stage. With the aid of a fresh cigar, he played and blew "Chatanooga Choo Choo" as well as several other selections.

The icing on the cake, however, for me at least, was when a little later, 13 of us (and in this case 13 was definitely not an unlucky number) piled into taxis and Some of our "Tea Dancers." invaded the "Top of the Mark" Hopkins Hotel, where we stayed 'til the lights came ON and the place closed. I must say a word about the Tea Dance. Gar Britten It was like being 16 again and going to your first .. and Molly Yeckley were resplendent. The dancers, in­ formal dance-my "Bubbles" badge was really appropri- • cluding Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead, obviously had a ate for the way I felt. ball. The non-dancers were envious, at least I was, but too bashful to take my 3 left feet out on the All good things must come to an end, as someone once floor with all those graceful people. Next time we said. The next morning some of us definitely felt a - 191 - Jnfernafional JlcJr(J(8Jl

little like Cinderella-after-the-ball--how could it and range of stops of the mammoth 4 manual 56 rank all be over already? So what better way to wind down Kilgen organ. Tom's playing of "High Hat" was a de- than with several open houses? We had a date across l ight. He was able to make the classical Kilgen sound the bay with our children \~hose grandparents were ob­ very theatrical. The selection is a very difficult ligingly looking after them, but we made time to visit one to do on a fast theatre organ and is almost im­ "Portcullus House," the home of Jarod Clark. Another possible on a classical instrument. Tom alternated "ooh" and "aah" experience. I can't describe it other with the two players and we were able to compare the than to say if you ever have an invitation to visit, sound of the organ played live and that produced by don't dec! ine! the two player systems.

Tom ended with a fantastic original composition, a Tocatta and Fugue based on the contemporary TV com­ mercial "Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Oh What a Relief It Is.'" This was an extraordinarilly clean and well done clas­ sical treatment of an 11 note motif.

The trip to the estate was a thoroughly enjoyable warm afternoon of music surrounded by an elegant Cal­ ifornia Spanish setting.

RALSTON MANSION TOUR BY RICHARD REUTLINGER

On Saturday, Septemb~r 3rd, the melodies of Bach, Cho­ pin, and Debussy wafted through the William C. Ralston (founder of the Bank of California) mansion as AMICAns were guided about the ground floor. This music was provided by a 1910 Welte Vorsetzer loaned for the oc­ casion by Iver and Vel Becklund.

Built in 1864, the Ralston mansion - today in use as By the look of the empty trays, AUICAns enjoyed the part of a private Catholic university - is an Italian solid refreshments too! Renaissance style residence with magnificent internal architectural decoration as lVell as some unusual I've only scratched the surface and I haven't been features of beautiful etched glass doors that slide up nearly specific enough and I haven't mentioned many in the ceiling or in the walls to open adjacent rooms people by name-I think we all must plot a conspir­ to better traffic flow and an ahead-of-its-time over­ acy to see that Molly doesn't do any more post-conven­ head (hidden ducts) ventilation system. tion traveling! It was all so wonderful and we thank the hosts for making it seem easy (well, almost) and The Becklund's vorsetzer was attached to a SteinlVay ~ for giving us the opportunity for 4 days of such fun ~ parlor grand creating such a realistic re-enactment ;;;od companionship. Torn and I are "veterans" nolV that personnel from Ralston Hall dropped by to see ~:_~onventions and a mini-convention, and each one "who was playing?" The ballroom, shimmering with its has be~ marvelous in its own lVay. There just can't three immense Bohemian crystal chandeliers, was a bett~r be a group than AMICA. See you in Dayton! perfect setting for such artists (in absentia) as Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler and Richard Buhlig. The Becklunds restored the vorsetzer completely a number TOM HAZLETON PROVIDES LIVE,MUSIC of years ago and have been most generous in making it available to AMICAns on a number of occasions. It was AT THE JACKLING ORGAN the festured attraction at a University of California lecture series "From Carillon To Ampichron" in 1970 BY MEL LUCHETTI at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. Part of the Saturday afternoon activities was a "field trip" to the milgnificent pipe organ owned by Robert 8··..···········..·..··..···..··....····..·....···....·..· Lloyd at the former Jackling Estate in Woodside (see detai led article - August 1977 Bulletin). " a a , Tom Hazleton presented a very unusual program that combined the fine artistry of his playing classical In and popular selections as weI I as the two reproducing o players attached to the organ - an Aeol ian Duo-Art and a Kilgen Dual Control. Tom opened the program with "War March of the Priests" which showed the power • - 192 - Jnfernafional JlJ!{Jf8Jl

AMICA's honorary member was in fine spirits and gave EUBIE BLAKE'S PERFORMANCE -AMICA CONVENTION a wonderful performance. AIf. E. We ro 1in SATURDAY EVENING) SEPTEMBER 3) 1977, Eubie Blake, the magical musical man of 94, captivated the AMICA Convention audience with his ragtime rhy­ THROUGH THE PERFORATOR thms at the Friday evening session of the convention. This was an informal, more or less impromptu perfor­ BY DORIS DUOART mance in which Eubie related experiences from his early childhood and his wonderful career dating back Dearest Gentle Reader; I thought I was going to be to before the 1890's, interspersed with his marvelous an "exclusive" but that awful Alice Ampico got off ragtime melodies and arrangements. the garbage scow Alviso just in time for the conven­ tion. I tricked Alice on that ship by telling her He opened with "the Charleston Rag" and followed ­ that all the garbage was the remains of an ongoing, after a few comments - with selections from the mu­ onboard party. My dears, just mention party and Alice sical show "Shuffle Along." He played his famous is off (more than usual). Even with Alice around, composition "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and then ex­ the convention was WONDERFUL. I have never been to cerpts from Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue." a better bash and everyone had a great time. Thursday night at Dick R!s I was lounging around in all that Victorian splendor with a little wine and cheese, why it was just like the Elks Club back in Peoria. Ac­ tually the Elks Club was never grand and I think all they served was beer. After the R.R. affair we saw Molly Y. off to Tommies Joint for supper accompanied ~ by 8 good-looking men. Well, at least this time we won't have to listen to the old "locked in the bar"

.~ Eubie Blake.

As Eubie plays; he talks to his hands - encouraging them to'do exactly what he has in mind as he strikes the notes and develops his unique arrangements. He told how he and his partner Noble Sissle in the early 1900's used to play seven performances a week, 48 Dave Fryman entertains in the Stevenson Room. weeks a year, for but $300 per week for the two of them, while singles were getting $600. It was a tough I ife to become recognized and accepted but they story again. It was so good seeing dear Ramsi Tick persisted and finally made the top. again (QRS you know) - he gave all those free rolls \ of "San Francisco" for us to take home. Doris gives After ~ few more reminiscenses, Ebuie played his a 000 000 Award to all who got up and wandered around lovely ~rrangement of "Memories of You," which was before the end of the last concert at the Jackling originally recorded for QRS and then expression coded estate. They cheated us out of T. H.'s final number. for the Ampico and Duo-Art. He played Wagner's "Pil­ Tom figured this group wasn't interested so he scrapped grim's Chorus" first as written, and then in ragtime the last number. My, my, my - you left your AMICAn as he would have composed the number. He closed his manners home that day. performance with the "Boogie Woogie Beguine," "Stars and Stripes Forever," and the "Merry Widow Wal tz," The Tea Dance was a delight - music, tiny sandwiches, all in ragtime. real tea, music and dancing. Your lovely Doris was

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quite out of breath but I couldn't hold a candle or a shoe to Dick R. who danced on the floor, walls, ceiling, table tops and every other flat or round sur­ face in the room. Later he did 40 foot leaps with one flick of a toe - too bad a table got in the way of his ribs. Wonderful Robert Armbruster, as charming as usual and playing like a 20-year-old virtuoso. He is one of my very favorite people. ..nita N. J., keep­ er of the official members told me she was out to do Betty Crocker in. After her successful week (before the convention) at La Belle Pot cooking school, she has developed a packaged, instant escargnt in soybean and whale oil sauce. Isadora spent much of her time

Keeper of the Microphone - Gar Britten - turns the program over to Ruth Bingaman Smith.

One of the great pleasures of an AMICA Convention is the privilege of hearing in person the artists whose work of yesterday still brings us so much pleasure in our homes through the rolls they recorded. This plea­ sure was further extended at Jarod Clark's Open House the next day when Miss Bingaman played for us again and, as a special treat, sang 3 songs which she had composed. The titles were, "I Had Forgotten," "There's A Song In The Air," and "Hemisfair In The Sun." Miss Bingaman revealed that the last song was composed for and sung frequently during the San Antonio Hemisfair V.iew of the Ballroom. in 1968, including a performance at the symphony or­ chestra's "Pops" Ccncert. peddling AMICA objects d'art, T-shirts, pins, books, etc. One brief hello cost me $12.50 plus tax. And finally, Sally and Dale Lawrence looking a tad weary AMEEKA SPEECH RETIRED! , at Jarod Clark's wonderful open house. After so much work, I'm not surprised. I'm sure all "Of you join me Apparently your Publisher's plea for AMICA conven­ in thanking all of the people who did so much to make tioneers to apply themselves towards the correct the convention such a success. To all of those who pronunciation of AMICA (August 1977 BUlletin, page chose to stay home, Doris hopes you enjoyed the re­ 134) was heeded by enough members to sooth the feel­ runs on TV - Keep thinking those kind thoughts. ings of Mr. Mel Luchetti.

However, it would seem that Mel was a bit piqued at the touch of editorial upstaging and so could not RUTH BINGAMAN SMITH CONCERT leave well enough alone. He therefore gave a speech BY CAROLE BECKETT on how AMICAns should henceforth talk "Texan" includ­ ing being able to pronounce 37 syllable words. AMICAns gathered early Sunday morning to hear a fav­ orite artist from past conventions and get-togethers, I cannot recommend this to non-Texas natives as you­ Ruth Bingaman-Smith. She began her program with Bee­ all will probably not ever master what comes naturally thoven's "Rondo in C Major," and finished with Gersh­ to only a select few. Besides, it is only proper win's "Rhapsodie in .Blue." Hearty applause and a that each member should speak his native regional standing ovation greeted our lovely Honorary Member tongue as half the fun of conventions is learning to as the last notes died away, and she graciously agreed decipher all these versions of English spoken by to extend her performance with two encores: Chopin's attendees from far and wide. OK Mel? "Etude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 25" and ~10szkowski's TB "Etude in F Major."

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FLORA MORA PLAYS FOR AMICA AFILM BY DENNIS CONDON BY SALLY LAWRENCE MUSICAL NOTES FROM AUSSIELAND A charming lady who spent many years in Cuba and Spain BY BILL WHERRY came into our lives at the convention. Flora Mora, the only student of Granados, made her appearance late San Francisco AMICAns and fellow visitors were given Sunday afternoon. She captivated the audience with a unique opportunity to see how automatic music fares her playing of Spanish compositions. The music usual­ in one of Mother England's late colonies at the Fifth ly has a romantic story I ine. She explained the story Annual AMICA Convention held in this city Labor Day and how the music related to it before each piece she weekend, Dennis Condon brought along a 15 minute played. She would occasionally lapse into Spanish film in color and sound showing us his collection of which added to her charm. Her sensitive, tender, and reproducing pianos and rolls and some scenes of the precise playing made for a magnificent performance. Mastertouch Music Roll Manufacturing Company, Ltd. Mr. Condon has numerous pianos representing the three major reproducing systems, to wit: 1924 Marshall & Wendell Ampico, 1924 Marshall &Wendell Duo-Art (adap­ ted), 1926 Behning Welte Licensee, and a 1906 Welte vorsetzer, all lined up along one wall like soldiers in parade formation in a room much like a studio. This studio is aptly named "J\mpicoTowers." The rea­ son for the military-like set-up is because all pianos share a common vacuum supply. Mr. Condon objected to the vibrations and slight noise individual rotary pumps are prone to make. Judging from the film, all instruments seem to be doing what their makers intended a half century and ~ more ago - they reproduce the artist's dynamics and ,. phrasing faultlessly. Mr. Condon invites musically interested people either in groups or individuals to hear the ghosts of Edward Grieg, Claude Debussy, Ferrucio Busoni, Ignace Paderewski, Josef Hofmann, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alfred Cortot and many others play their own or other compositions. Informality is stressed - you can sit, sprawl, or whatever while listening. Flora Mora. Following were brief scenes at the roll maker's factory in Melbourne showing the recording, the perforators, Dale and I had the priviledge to spend an evening with the stencil machine that puts the words on the roll, her. She told us that she pract ices every day and the editing table where wrong notes or "clinkers" does finger exercises between practices. During the are taken out, and other finalizing processes leading 1915 World's Fair in San Francisco, she played at the Exhibition Hall. We were del ighted to be able to show to the finished playable music roll. The bulk of pro­ her the Palace of Fine Arts in the evening and she was duction is in the 88-note series. Reproducing rolls del ighted to see it again and wondered what happened are done in limited lots only, or to special order. to the rest of the fair. Thank you Dennis Condon, for sharing with us glimpses We al I salute a lovely, talented, concert pianist who of perforated music Australian style. won the hearts of everyone. We all went away hoping that we will be able to hear the genius of such a fine artist on another occasion soon.

CONVENTION FLEA MARKET BY NICK JARRETT The Flea Market attracted enough enthusiastic buyers to match the variety of merchandise, most of which sold quickly. Reproducing rol Is went for prices we knew in the "good old days" - yes, two boxes of grea­ Ampicos for $2.75 each! / - 195 - / / to.. . JnfernafionalclltcJKJf8c11t .~

FRANK DENKE CONCERT BY MEL LUCHETTI Music after the banquet was provided by San Francisco pianist Frank Denke. Frank played a delightful and varied program of music which included the "\~arsaw Concerto" and "Rhapsodie In Blue." He has long been active in the San Francisco music scene. He was a

Ruth Bingaman Smith. An unexpected treat for those staying for any length of time were the impromtu concerts given on the lovely Knabe piano by artists Eubie Blake, Flora Mora, and Ruth Bingaman Smith--all present in person.

Copious amounts of "the bubbly" and appetizers were served to further enhance the gala atmosphere of this auspicious occasion which was held from 11 :30 a.m. un­ til late afternoon on Labor Day. Frank Denke. From those of us present--to our gracious host and member of the Masters of Melody, a highly successful friend, Jarod--"SIMPLY GREAT!" radio program of salon music and I ight classics. The program was on the air for 10 years and was so popular it was beamed "1 ive" to Los Angeles. Mr. Denke was with the program for its entire run.

He has also appeared for many years with Albert White, a well-known orchestra conductor in the San Francisco area. Mr. Denke now plays at the St. Francis Hotel, a position he has held for many years. He provided us with a most enjoyable hour of music.

AMI CANS ENJOY HOSPITALITY OF PORTCULLUS HOUSE BY JIM LARSON One of the concluding highlights of the 1977 Conven­ tion was certainly the Open House given by Jarod Clark at his most unique home in the heart of San Francisco. The Shangri-la interior with its myriad of art trea­ sures, atrium (complete with a tiered Spanish foun- ~ tain!), and multi-level roof gardens so well compli­ ., mented the sincerity and generosity of the host that Sally Lawrence calls our attention to a pair of our all those attending felt this was truly an experience most enthusiastic long distance collectors - Terry to be remembered! Smythe of Winnipeg, Canada (1.) and Dennis Condon of Newtown, Australia (r.).

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these 5000 rolls total is $40,000, which comes to RECUT OF EDWIN LESTER ROLL AVAILABLE $8.00 per roll. In addition, there is a one time charge of $6,775.20 for making the necessary cutting BY BILL FLYNT dies and other tooling. Thus, the total cost for At the 1977 AMICA International Convention in Sep­ producing 5000 rolls would be $46,775.20. tember, one of the guest pianists was Mr. Edwin Lester If this project materializes I would be pleased to who made several rolls for Ampico in the twenties. He act as coordinator of it. There is no profit or per­ brought with him a rare, one-of-a-kind roll of his sonal benefit to me involved. I will pay the same arrangement of "Gypsy Love Selections," by Franz Lehar, price anyone else pays for rolls obtained for my col­ which apparently was a proof copy from the Ampico fac­ lection. As no profit or personal benefit is being tory. The box was dated 7/5/28, Number 6657 and the derived, I will do my best to manage all aspects of roll was never issued by Ampico. The box label and the project but can assume no personal or corporate leader were both typewritten. liability concerning the quality of the rolls, per­ formance of John Malone and/or Play-Rite Music Rolls, The arrangement is, in my opinion, very listenable ­ delivery of the rolls or any other aspect. If a typical Lehar operetta music - but there were about a problem develops in the course of the project, we dozen rather severe errors which had not been edited will all have to bear the burden equally. I am not out. To be sure, much editing had been done, obvious­ anticipating any problem, but I want to mention this ly in pre-Scotch tape days, with white paper tape. I at the beginning. asked Mr. Lester if we could borrow the roll for du­ plication and he agreed, provided yhat the errors It is my suggestion that we set one roll of each . were corrected. So he and I played the roll several title aside for contingencies - for exchange to col­ times on the Mason & Hamlin there making notations as lectors of museums who loan us rolls for copying, to the needed corrections, all of which were in the for any losses in the mail, or any other problems. music portion - the expression coding seemed OK. I This would leave 19 copies of the rolls available for later made the corrections and the duplicating was distribution. done by John Malone, of Playrite Music Rolls, Inc., in Turlock, California. As of this date, August 17, 1977, we have ll1Jar­ ~ ticipants in the roll project. This means there are I personally considered it an honor to be able to work only 8 more "positions" available. If you would like with one of the original recording artists in putting to participate, please contact me for financial and the finishing touches on an as-yet-unissued Ampico other details: Q. David Bowers, 1802 Kettering St., roll and we are all indebted to Mr. Lester for making Irvine, California 92714 - (714) 754-1777. the original roll available for this purpose.

Copies will be available as of November 1, 1977 from AEOLIAN DUO-ART REPRODUCING PIPE ORGAN ROLLS by Ray Siou, 1616 E. 14th St., Oakland, CA 94606 for Tom Beckett (coordinator): A very similar project $5.00 postpaid. to the one detailed above is in the preliminary in­ terest seeking stage now for these pipe organ rolls. The cost figures are similar to the P-V roll project TWO above except for the number of copies produced - only 10 copies will be made because of the 12 per inch ROLL RECUTTING PROJECTS perforation spacing making this a more delicate op­ eration. This, including mail delivery, brings the PHONOLISZT-VIOLINA by Dave Bowers (coordinator): In cost of each roll closer to $18 each. Response to my opinion, the Phonoliszt-Violina is one of the most an initial mailing to known installations of these remarkable of all automatic musical instruments. pipe organs has not found enough orders to start There is one problem, however: Rolls for it are the project. Anyone not previously contacted is scarce (and have been selling in the $20 to $30 range urged to write Tom Beckett, 6817 Cliffbrook, Dallas each in some instances), and many of the rolls that Texas 75240 - (214) 239-5019 for more details. do survive are on poor paper or are in bad condition. Realizing the need for durable good-quality recut rolls, I contacted John Malone, manager of Play-Rite PIANO ROLL REVIEW Music Roll Company. Mr. Marone has a large and suc­ cessful business supplying recut Ampico and Duo-Art BY DAN TUTTLE rolls, coin piano rolls, organ rolls, and other rolls to collectors. His quality in the past has been out­ 88-NOTE ROLLS standing. "I Found A Rose In The Devil's Garden" -A fox trot Mr. Malone has furnished a quotation to recut 20 song written by Fisher in the Key of E-flat. There copies each of 250 different Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Vio­ are two rolls to be described of which the first is linarolls, medium size rolls averaging about three Melodee #2979 played by Cliff Hess. The song, to tunes per roll (realizing some rolls will be shorter this writer, is just another song with an interesting and some will be longer). His cost for producing lyric accompaniment. Even though Cliff Hess is a

- 198 - ~offs and eNusic .It..~.

good pianist, the arrangement is just so-so. At this Roll of "Together, We Two"? Going nuts trying to point I introduce the real "In The Devil's Garden" find it. Thanks. Al Greco, P.O. Box 2329, Boston, and it shall stand up and stand out above all other MA 02107. arrangements of this song. The roll is QRS #1411 played by Pete Wendling and the difference between the Melodee and QRS rolls is like night and day. If you like a sing-a-long you should choose Melodee. If you want to see and hear a performance, you'll want to go with Pete Wendling's fine recording. (Bafilorni~ "Everybody Calls Me Honey" - An interesting one-step written by Joe Lyons and Charley Straight in the key of E-flat. Published by Forster Music in 1919. The fi rst of the two rolls to be descri bed is "Voca 1 Style" #1459 played by Walter Davison. To the writ­ er's surprise, this roll is the best arrangement of AN AFTERNOON WITH LEO ORNSTEIN the song that's been heard so far. The arrangement is very jazzy and syncopated. The other roll is BY STU HUNTER "Imperial Song Record" #9759 played by Charley Straight and Jack Clyde. Even though most people The July 24th meeting of the Northern California think that since the composer is playing his own song Chapter was held in Hillsborough at the home of Alf he should know how it should sound, I still hold my and Marjorie Werolin. The theme was "An Afternoon opinion with the Walter Davison recording. The Im­ with Leo Ornstein" and it proved to be a delightful perial roll is jazzy but not as syncopated as the experience. The only thing missing was the physical Vocal Style. Once again it is a matter of taste. presence of the artist himself. Nevertheless, the Werolin's beautiful Nason &Hamlin, through the me­ "I Got The Air From Popper Blues" - The title of this dium of the Ampico reproducing roll, recreated all fox trot tends to throw you doesn't it? With words the nuances of color and tone of the master's fingers and music by Leslie and ~Iendling this QRS roll #2022 at the keyboard. If you closed your eyes it was is played.by the composer, Peter Wendling. Copyright easy to imagine Mr. Ornstein at the keyboard of that by Wendling in 1922. A fast type of blues number beautiful Mason &HamlinL with plenty of jazz riffs and breaks. The lyrics don't always rhyme but are descriptive. This is one of the rolls that carries an up-in-mid-air ending. From one key to another, then gone, over with, finis. "Troublesome Ivories" -A ragtime fox trot written by Eubie Blake with copyright by Eubie Blake Music in 1971. This is an instrumental piece recorded on the QRS Celebrity Series CEL-124 in October, 1973 by the composer Eubie Blake. Eubie Blake was born in 1883 and is still going strong to this day (as those who enjoyed his performance at the AMICA Con­ vention can well attest!). A truly fantastic talent is always displayed in Mr. Blake's music rolls and "Troublesome Ivories" is a favorite of the writer's collection. One can only hope that they'll be in as good shape at the age this famous ragtime pianist is today. Put this roll in your spool box and the key­ board will move.

ROLL HELP NEEDED I just acquired a batch of rolls and among them is an original Columbia Roll of "Maple Street Rag" Severa and Laura Ornstein with host Alf Werolin. played in real rag style. The bottom of the roll says "by Scott Joplin." I know he wrote it but would like to know who the recording artist is if possible. Leo Ornstein's son and daughter-in-law, Severa and Laura, were the guests of honor and they provided Also, on the QRS roll #95101, "Maple Street Rag," it interesting background material about the life and lists Scott Joplin as the recording artist. Is it career of this great artist who now is in his eight­ really him, as it sounds very modern!? ies and lives in Texas. We learned that Mr. Orn­ stein, who no longer appears on the concert stage, Finally, does anyone out there have the International is still a vigorous and energetic a~tist who now - 199 - 'L- rBafilornia &--. rBafilornia :1.-

CHERNEYS HOST AUGUST MEETING BY BILL TOEPPE The Southern California Chapter of AMICA held its August meeting at the home of Francis and Pat Cher­ ney in Cypress on Saturday, 1 August 1977. The meet­ ing \~as held early in the month to minimize conflict with the Annual International Meeting.

Refreshments on the patio.

devotes all his time to writing and composing. We were fortunate in hear~ng a variety of his composi­ tions and interpretations on the Ampico as well as • more recent recordings on tape. We also learned that ., there has been a revival of interest in Mr. Ornstein Dick Rigg and Dorothy Bromage discuss the National and that several long playing records of his com­ coin piano. positions are now on the market. Members were entertained with music from a National coin piano and a Gulbransen player piano. Francis Alf and Marjorie were gracious hosts and their love­ has another hobby - he is FOZ the clown and collects ly home provided a perfect background for this enjoy­ posters, statues, etc., relating to clowns. Pat able musical afternoon. also collects dolls. In addition to music from the instruments and anec­ dotes from FOZ, members enjoyed pot-luck dinner with salads and desserts brought by guests and the main course prepared by Pat.

Members and guests (Laura Ornstein - center) listen The group enjoys a potluck dinner on the patio. to Ornstein at the Mason & Hamlin. Discussions with individual members present who are involved with the McGroarty piano restoration in- - 200 - to. . crezas .~

dicates that while the restoration is coming along, A small parlor near the front entry hall houses a with one thing and another, the piano will not be truly beautiful Jesse French upright pumper in an ready by October 1977. immaculate walnut case. A nice collection of 88 note rolls soon made this room ring with the happy sounds of twenties fox trots and ballads. Unwilling to be left out, a fine Seeburg coin piano in the living BALTZLEYS HOST AUGUST MEETING room caught the spirit of the crowd and with its xylo­ phone and mandolin was soon the center of attention. BY DICK BARNES The Seeburg arrangements, so well worked out musical­ ly, sounded especially good on this well regulated On the 28th of August a large number of AMICAns met instrument housed in Mission Oak with one of the more at the home of Kay and Merrill Baltzley in Plano, elaborate art glass fronts. Texas. It was a warm day and our host's offer of beer or punch was gratefully accepted by the members The Chickering AMPICO is in the final stages of com­ and guests as we settled in to the afternoon's ac­ plete restoration so we were not able to hear it tivities. play. Touched manually it proved to have that full majestic bass and lucid clear tone that is character­ istic of the finest Chickering pianos. The piano was built in 1923 and is a 6' 6" instrument in a Louis XVI Period case. The case restoration deserves comment as it is so well done it almost appears to be original. The refinisher even shaded the stain in the panels and mouldings as it was done originally. One rarely sees that in con~emproary restoration. This piano had been gutted of its AMPICO when Merrill acquired it so an entire AMPICO mechanism for this size instrument had to be found, restored, and in­ stalled. One very interesting feature was the drawer.

Merrill Baltzley takes a moment to admire his newly restored art case Chickering Ampico. Would you believe that it was delivered just 20 minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting!!!

Dick Barnes and Tony Palmer (L.) and Doyle Cassel (R.) being enlightened as to the operation of the compressed air model airplane engines by'Merrill. All the brass appointments are not the same that one usually sees on Ampico "A" drawers. They are a bit simpler in design but heavier and more elegant in style.

Texas president Tony Palmer conducted a short business meeting in the air-conditioned garage where a swap­ meet had been going on previously. Rolls, records, parts and even a piano bench were seen to change hands. The Baltzleys also collect old model trains (see display cases). Kay Baltzley and Carole Beckett Our host is an airline pilot and his large collection from left to right. - 201 - J'eZQS

of engine models and model airplane engines was fas­ a 1930's depression ensemble, a satin Dache dress cinating to many of us - especially the compressed with fagoting at the neck and sleeves. She wore art­ air engines of about fifty years ago. These engines, deco earrings and her hair was in the style of early designed for model airplanes, consist of a very light Bette Davis. metal cylinder up to about two feet long and perhaps three inches in diameter that is filled with compressed air. An orifice at one end of the cylinder is connect­ ed to a tiny piston engine and when the valve is opened releasing the air, as Merrill demonstrated, the little engine runs very quietly and smoothly.

L. to R.: Al Wulfekuhl, Bob Foster, Barry Leedy, Jim weisenborne and Bennett Leedy admiring the Baldwin Welte. Many members brought their own favorite rolls and eagerly started trying out the instruments while others arrived. A brief business meeting was later conducted by vice president Jim Prendergast and our 1978 Dayton AMICA Convention was out! ined by Bill Members observe new stack recovering and alignment Eicher. procedures devised by Ray and Iver Becklund and demonstrated by Bill Flynt. After the meeting a tasty, I ight lunch was served on the Yeckley's screened-in porch. Members chatted AMICAns Theda Burner, Carole Beckett, and Janet about the convention and eagerly awaited the special Tonnesen were co-hostesses and together with Kay event of the day, the live roll auction. The rol I Baltzley they produced a buffet table laden with turkey, ham, cheeses, chips, dips, dessert and every­ thing in between that was a joy to behold and partake of.

cJr(idwesf

YECKLEYS HOST MIDWEST CHAPTER MEET BY JIM WEISENBORNE

Enthusiastic. That word we] I characterized the mem­ bers as they drove to Castal ia, Ohio on August 14th. Bob Elder, Bill Eicher (auctioneer) and our red­ Lee and Molly Yeckley were our hosts. Our member­ headed gal, Molly, during the auction. ship swelled to thirty in anticipation of hearing one • fabulous Baldwin Welte, one terrific Steinway, and a auction was conducted to give local chapter members , Will iam and Mary style Marshall and Wendell Ampico practice in clerking. This was no simulated auction "B" and, something different for us, a live roll however. Real rolls were used and the bids rose auction. We began arriving about 10:30 A.M. and rapidly. Bill Eicher was our auctioneer. He modest­ were greeted by Molly who surprised us by wearing ly said that this was the first auction that he had - 202 - to.. . • r---'

conducted, but nobody bel ived him. Bil I del ighted especially since the installation of new valves, can his audience with his sharp wit and clever tongue almost peel the wallpaper off the wall whi Ie still and whipped the group into such a fervor that the being capable of executing the softest passages. It bidding went fast and high. Bill could sell refrig­ was a real treat to play our personal Duo-Art rolls erators to Eskimos. People obviously enjoyed them­ on that Steinway. selves. Our red-headed gal, Molly Yeckley - as usual chatting with someone - was startled and momentarily silenced when Bill shouted, "How much am I offered for 'That Red-Hai red Gal'?" To Molly's rel ief and the laughter of the group, it was a roll which Bil I was auctioning. We had lots of fun, the rol Is were al I sold, and our treasury, thanks to Bil I Eicher, was greatly increased.

Molly demonstrating an alternating roll.

Four guests became instant converts, indeed zealots, and joined the chapter immediately. Molly later dem- onstrated an alternating piano roll on the Steinway ~ by playing the missing passages. Everyone seemed ~ to have such fun watching someone play along with Jo Eicher and Jim Weisenborne tallying bids from the alternating roll that I wonder how many of us the roll auction. would be interested in encouraging the recutting of some of these rolls. Perhaps some letters to our editor might bring this about.

Our next Midwest Chapter meeting will be held in Michigan on October 22 and 23. Barry Leedy and his parents wil I host the October 22nd meeting commencing at 5:30 P.M. at 191 Washington Street, Coloma, Mich­ igan. Phone: 1-616-468-5986. Robert Leedy wi 11 be our host on October 23 starting at 10:30 A.n. Robert lives on Hagarshore Road in Coloma.

Photos by Jim Worgull.

L. Bill Eicher outlines the 1978 Dayton Convention. R. Jim Prendergast. JULY MEETING AT GAUDIERI'S Once everyone had calmed down, the rolls paid for BY JIM BREWER and gathered up, Molly demonstrated her pianos. I don't know of anyone who wasn't impressed with her A dreary, rainy day cleared just in the nick of time Baldwin Welte or Steinway AR. They are both extreme­ for the SOWNY Chapter meeting held at Dave and Bernie ~ ly express ive instruments. Al though the II' 8" Mar­ Gaudieri's home in Rochester, New York. Refreshments shall & Wendell played valiantly for being unrestored, were served before we got down to the serious business it was no match for its larger sisters. I encourage of polishing off the delicious buffet dinner. Gril- AMI CAns to hear these instruments. The Steinway, led red &white hots, salads of all varieties and - 203 - I

around shortly. Ramsi Tick then reported on the de­ velopments at the National Association of Music Mer­ chants meeting that was held in Atlanta. It seems the cassette player piano demonstrated at the Buffalo Convention in '75 is now in the hands of an organi­ zation who can really promote it. The player itself was very successfully demonstrated in a Yamaha piano there.

L. to R.: John Poole, Jim Brewer and Dave Gaudieri.

descriptions, and a "grand" cake for dessert. We enjoyed dinner around the Ampico. "No meeting is com­ plete without Fritz Kreisler," says Jeff Depp as he loads the Ampico with "Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3" on his way to get seconds. Dave has done such a great job of restoration on his 5'8" Chickering. The cab­ inet has been beautifully refinished, the keyboard redone in ivory, and the crowning touch, the Chicker- Ramsi Tick stands by as Felix Kelmpka (seated) and Il ing and Ampico trademarks were silkscreened back on Bill Bougelist have a go at the photoplayer. ., the fallboard. Need I say more? As one would expect, the Ampico and piano actions received just as much With the business formalities over, Dave took charge attention to detail and perfection as the outside to explain the rest of his collection. The imposing caseworks with the end result being one of the finest Wurlitzer Photoplayer captured everyone's attention. reproducing pianos in the area. Many members brought Directly opposite was a very nice Weber upright Duo­ along their favorite rolls, so needless to say, the Art. It was also in peak operating form and got the Chickering got quite a testing and workout. same type of workout as the Ampico. Dave had arranged for the choir from the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church to entertain us. We were treated to a very well done and diversified musical programme. With the meeting adjourned, members broke up to the Ampico, the Duo­ Art or the Photoplayer, which by this time had the front panels off. Restoring order, Dave then pro­ ceeded to show home sound movies of the convention held in Buffalo in 1975. This served further to whet the apetites of those lucky enough to be able to at­ tend the upcoming convention in San Francisco.

The "grand" dessert. Promptly at 8:00 the business meeting was called to order. We were very happy to welcome the many guests in attendance. From the looks of things, we will be ~ welcoming them as full-fledged members when the next meeting "rolls" around. After getting old business out of the way, it was learned our treasurer, Tom Zorn, was involved in a motorcycle accident. For­ tunately he was not badly hurt and should be up and Some of the Choir from Holy Redeemer. - 204 - &*ecRnicalifies

force. The pianist would usually strike a given key TUNING THE VIOLANO - 435 OR 4407 with a certain amount of force, whether or not the soft pedal was depressed implying that hammer forces BY ART REBLITZ would be fairly consistent both with and without de­ I enjoyed Charles Innes' excellent series of articles pression of the soft pedal. Therefore, the Duo-Art on the Mills Violano but I have one point of con­ mechanism, in order to give the same force to a ham­ tention. Although I agree that it is safe to raise mer with and without the hammer rail being lifted the pitch of most well-built old pianos from A-435 must increase the stack suction sl ightly in the ham­ to A-440 (and I do so many times a week in my tuning mer-rail-up condition. The sound of a note struck business), the Mills Violano plate has a weak spot with the hammer rail up will be much softer due to which might be made more vulnerable to cracking if the fact that the hammer receives much less energy the additional strain is imposed. The crack occurs because of the shorter distance travelled since en­ behind the center bass strings, under the center ergy equals force times distance. agraffes, allowing the top portion of the plate to I'm sure that it really wasn't thought of in those sag slightly as the crack spreads and worsens, and terms back in the 20's but rather it was probably preventing the piano from being tuned. Out of thou­ noticed that when playing back an artist's recording sands of ordinary pianos which I have serviced, I efforts, the piano was about three "degrees" too soft have seen only three or four cracked plates, but I when the soft pedal was on, so they simply added the have seen at least that many cracked Viloano plates. little switch to keep notes from missing at the sof­ My statistics might be all wet because most old tes't Ieve1s rather than add i ng three "degrees" to pianos with cracked plates are junked while Violanos each and every note played with the soft pedal on. are not but nevertheless I believe it is risky busi­ Notice that there would also have to be "Upright ness to tune a Violano higher than A-435. Rolls" and "Grand Rolls" publ ished with different coding during soft-pedal-on passages. That would Incidentally, I tune all player pianos, reproducing have been a rea I mess. ltd id mean, however, that pianos and half-pianos (those incomplete pianos in the upright Duo-Arts would not have the full dynamic which the designers forgot to install self-playing range that a grand would have (with lost motion com­ mechanisms) to A-440 but I think a coin piano or or­ chestrion has a little more nostalgic charm when pensator), if the switch was added. Apparently the tuned to A-435. This is purely subjective thinking, switch was the path of least resistance as most Duo­ but to me it goes along with the use of old-fashioned Art uprights have the switch in them. wiring, light bulbs, varnish and nickel plating even A better solution, assuming that the above lengthy though plastic insulated wiring, high wattage frosted discourse is not too far off target, would have been bulbs, lacquer and chrome plating are better in to add a little pneumatic to the frame of the expres­ most modern applications. sion box which is attached to each of the,expression pneumatics via a fairly soft adjustable spring such that when the soft pedal pneumatic collapses, the ad­ ditional pneumatic collapses and thereby raises, only AN EXPLANATION OF DUO-ART SOFT PEDAL slightly, the zero-level of the whole expression box. The normal expression pneumatic springs would have to CO~IPENSATION - UPRIGHT ONLY be backed off a bit to compensate for the small add­ itional load of the soft pedal compensation springs BY PATRICK L. MLlLLARKY just added. Such an addition would fall into the ca­ tegory of an evoJuntionary improvement to the instru­ The soft pedal pneumatic on Duo-Art upright pianos ment and not an "alteration," I am sure, provided the has a pneumatic switch that collapses sections 1 and addition was executed with good design principles and 2 of the accompaniment expression accordion when the not just tacked-on. At any rate, I shall try the con­ soft pedal pneumatic is clos~d. At first glance this cept on my own Stroud Duo-Art (1923) upright, and if seems to be a contradiction - softness is called for it works well, I'll publish the results in a future and yet the expression accordion gets set to three issue. levels above the zero-level by the soft pedal pneu­ matic! I have long been of the opInion that a good upright, well regulated and tuned, has full concert-level The answer 1ies in the fact that the Duo-Art mech­ musical potential and, while not as loud as a grand, anism is a relatively constant-volume system that has has equa I tona 1 qua lit i es. It therefore seems a no reservoirs except the expression pneumatics them­ shame to me that the lowest levels of expression selves. When the piano's hammer rail is lifted by coding on the usually well-coded Duo-Art rolls are the soft pedal pneumatic, there is considerable lost simply ignored on most uprights! But, that's the motion in the stack pneumatics and an extra large way they built them! amount of air has to be exhausted from each stack pneumatic before the hammer's whippen is contacted by the pneumatic's finger or pushrod. This extra volume of air causes the expression pneumatic to ex­ pand slightly more than it would if the hammer rail were not lifted, in order to produce a given hammer - 205 - 4ecRnicalifies

well fitted. But, this means that bonding a film ALPHA-CYANOACRYLATE to another surface is easy as the film will conform to the surfaces quite well. If using pre-formed BY PATRICK L. MULLARKY pouches, such as those supplied by Player Piano Com­ pany, simply place the pouch in position with the THE GREATEST AOHESIVE-FfLLER-GLUE-TACK-BONO AGENT blotter paper ring facing up and carefully apply a EVER INVENTEO •••• BUT WATCH IT •••• IT CAN BE TOO GOOD! drop of Alpha to the outer edge of the pouch where the pouch meets the wood. The very low surface ten­ The introduction of Alpha-Cyanoacrylate by the East­ sion of the Alpha compound wil I cause it to run a man Chemical Division of Eastman Kodak back around good way around the pouch and usually only two or 1964 was not quite as earth-shaking as perhaps it three drops is enough for a complete pouch bonding should have been. Today, however, it is available job. It is advisable to wear polyethylene gloves of practically everywhere under such names as: Alpha­ the disposable, clear, fits-either-hand type when Bond, Minute-Bond, Quik-Set, Super-Glue, Hot-Stuff, doing close work with Alpha because if it gets on Jet Glue, etc. They are almost all simply repackaged your fingers they will stick together with a bond Alpha-Cyanoacrylate with the only differences being strength stronger than your skin! If this happens, viscosity (runniness) and set time. They are all you simply wait awhile, I ike about 10 minutes, and "one drop" glues with a set time which varies from then gently work the bonded area apart. The pers­ two seconds to two minutes, depending on the viscos­ piration and skin oils will gradually loosen the ity, moisture content, acidity of the bonding sur­ bonded area. If the Alpha doesn't seem to be setting faces, etc. Typically, "Alpha," as we shall call it up very quickly under the edge of a pouch, take a from now on, bonds anything to anything in about fif­ piece of cotton dipped in an ammonia solution and teen seconds. This includes fingers, eyelids, 1ips, wipe the area to be bonded, drying with a cloth, ana skin, nails, and any other part of your anatomy you then doing the bond. Acidic surfaces slow the bond­ care to name. ing speed considerably. Some woods, like spruce and pine, have an acidic sap that can inhibit the The uses of Alpha are limited only to the imagination, bond for five or ten minutes. The ammonia trick a few examples being bonding aircraft wing skins, usually works even on these woods though. repairing torn fingernails, repairing bicycle tire inner-tubes, repairing crystal goblet stems invisibly ­ 3. "Tacking" gaskets in place - a tiny drop of Alpha quite literally bonding anything to anything. in several places on a surface will hold a gasket firmly in place when assembling a piece together. There are a few places on a mechanical musical in­ strument where Alpha is absolutely invaluable, and 4. Repairing broken keys or hammer shanks - any I have 1isted a few of them below from my own ex­ broken wood piece, where the pieces can be fitted perience. together quite well, is an excellent candidate for Alpha. Simply mate the pieces together, flow a drop 1. Preventing or repairing stripped wood-screw or so of Alpha into the fine line where the break threads - this bane of all instrument reparers is still shows, hold it for a minute or so, and lay it once and for all solved. The first step is to ap­ ~ aside. Because the bond-strength increases for a ply one or two drops of Alpha to every screw hole ~, period of time up to and including one hour, wait at after the piece has been completely dismantled. This ~,least several minutes before using the piece. In causes the wood around the hole to soak up the Alpha mos~cases the repaired section will be far stronger and become absolutely rock-hard and it is unlikely than the original wood! You don't need to wait more that any replaced screw will strip out when tight­ than a few minutes because the bond reaches 95% of ened. Actually you are henceforward more 1ikely to its strength very quickly••• in the first several min­ snap off the screw head than strip the screw threads. utes. The second step is repairing the already stripped threads without going to a larger screw or stuffing 5. Plugging leaks and fixing cracks - the same sour­ the hole full of toothpicks or wood scraps - take ces listed below also carry a powdery material called some fine sawdust and fill the hole with it, using "microballoons" which are sub-microscopic glass a toothpick to pack it down gently. Then let one spheres. One package of this material will go a very or two drops of Alpha soak into the now-filled hole. long way. Simply fill the crack, hole, gap, or what­ When it sets (it may actually steam slightly as it ever with the microballoons -I simply rub it in sets) drill the hole for the size of screw to be used. with my finger - and then flow a little Alpha over You must pre-drill the hole as the bonded wood is the area. It will set almost instantly to a glass­ almost as hard as Rock Maple and you may damage the hard material almost as strong as metal and quite air­ screw or the piece you're working on if you don't! tight. It may take several applications to fill a large void. Use ordinary sandpaper to smooth over 2. Bonding perflex pouches - Alpha will bond Perflex the filled surface. absolutely permanently, even in places where one might expect the Perflex to pull away under high 6. Bonding loose brass collars on valve stems - ap­ strain. Alpha works best when the surfaces to be ply a tiny bit of Alpha, using a toothpick, to any glued together are fitted together tightly. In fact, col lars that do not fit tightly after being refitted Alpha won't bond at all unless the surfaces are fairly to the stems. The less Alpha used the better in this case as you don't want any of the Alpha to run down

- 206 - ~ecRnicalifie8

the stem and bond the valve parts. the brands mentioned. There is a price war going on at the moment and you can get one-half ounce of 7. Bonding new neoprene valve faces - Alpha is per­ Alpha for around $3.00 - and that's thousands of fect for bonding new neoprene valve facings as not drops or droplets. It has a definite shelf-l ife at only are the facings well bonded, but they are also room temperature and when it gets 1ike syrup it's instantly useable. DO NOT USE ON LEATHER! The Alpha allover for that bottle. It won't set properly will soak into the leather and ruin the facings. any more. Throw it away as it isn't all that expen­ sive. Its shelf-life in the freezer is, for all Some "Don'ts": practical purposes, infinite. Just let it reach room temperature before use if you've kept it in DON'T leave Alpha where the children can get at it. you r freezer.

DON'T use Alpha on felt bushings or leather parts of any kind as it soaks into these materials far too NEW MEMBERS well and will ruin them. Carl Joseph Schimel Robert &,Marie Cobb DON'T get Alpha anywhere near your eyes! It can lit­ 3 Norden Dr. 950 Dorthe1 St. erally bond your eyes shut! An excellent precaution Brookville, NY 11545 Sebastopol, CA 95472 is glasses or plastic safety glasses for those who don't wear glasses. Dr. B. L. Berks T. Fred &Claire Kingsmil1 RR #2, Box 112F 130 Dundas St. DON'T force your fingers apart if they get glued to­ Little Forest Dr. London, Ontario gether. Patience and time will gently loosen the Germantown, OH 45327 Canada, N6A 1G2 . bond. 513 855 6450 416 432 7111 referred by Bill Eicher referred by Terry Smythe Some "Do IS": Al Greco 1929 Fischer Ampico. DO call an eye doctor if you get any in your eyes, Box 2329 and don't panic as all eye doctors have specific Boston, MA 02107 methods to loosen Alpha-Cyanoacrylate bonds. 617 267 3084

DO use the absolute smallest amount of Alpha to do Miss Bea Brinker 1977 Gulbransen organ the job. Too much can make the resulting bond very 502 Crafton Ave. with player. poor. Pitman, NJ 08071 609 589 2219 DO take every precaution to keep Alpha from running where you don't want it to go. If it gets into a George &Dorothy Missbach Welte red roll; Welte bearing, for example, it will freeze the bearing up 3715 Northside Parkway Rm 675 Vorsetzer; Pipe Organ tight! Atlanta, GA 30327 Duo-Art. 404 237 1694 referred by Karl Kempf With all these "Do's" and "Don'ts" it's easy to see why the OSHA and the FDA wanted the Alpha-Cyanoacry­ eston &Eddie Fleet 1936 Duo-Art B; Aeolian late compounds banned. But their usefulness and PI a De Sante Fe Duo-Art pipe organ. industry-wide applications fortunately prevented Via Santa Fe/La F1echa such a ban. A reasonable amount of caution is all Ranch Santa Fe, CA 92067 referred by Frank Adams that is necessary. I have used Alpha for over four 714 756 3204/756 3744 years without any real mishap. I have glued my fin­ gers together many times, and glued all kinds of Dan Laskey 1975 Wurlitzer spinet plyr; things to my fingertips by accident - with no damage 454 Freeport Rd. 1911 Bennett &Bentz upr done at all when the bonds let go after a short time. Pittsburgh, PA 15238 p1yr; 1925 Milton upr plyr. Lately, mostly from practice, I have avoided any 412 828 4198 accidental bondings of any sort. It simply takes a little getting used to. But, it is worth the effort, E. Ray Adkisson 1921 Weber 5'8" Duo-Art. as you wi ll"see when you try It yourself. The stuff 1108 5th Ave. is practically miraculous in many applications! Los Angeles, CA 90019 213 734 4374 Where can you get it? Hobby stores - most partic­ ularly those that specialize in radio control, or James Davis &Michael Hagen 1912 Welte Mignon R/C, models. I recommend several brands: "Jet," 1702 Shelly Drive Vorsetzer original. "Hot Stuff," "ZAP," or "Fast-Bond." They all come Santa Rosa, CA 95401 referred by James & Mary in small, half-full bottles with a very fine tip, 707 544 6149 Riffle most often a piece of teflon micro-tubing, for ap­ plication. I have used them all and they are all T. Radomski 192? Mortier Orch style the same. The "Jet" brand has a very thick-walled Suite 200, 2151 McCallum Rd. 36/112 key folding book; applicator tube, and seems to plug up the least of Abbotsford, BC Canada 192? Aeolian Duo-Art pipe V2S 3N8 orRan w/Concerto1a Chngr. - 207 - NEW MEMBERS (CONTINUED) David Burke Ron &Donna Cappel 2084 S. Rio Grande Ave. 13631 E. Bailey St. Jim &Vicki Black 1920 Chickering 5'10" Orlando, FL 32805 Whittier, CA 90601 Rt 1, 520 Banks Ampico A. Grand Coulee, WA 99133 referred by Bill Kavouras R. B. Hawkins Erwin Nyireghazi 504 Southwest 10th Ave. 1973 Canyon Dr. Robert Clark Jr. Chase 6'1" Ampico A (cus­ Fort Lauderdale, FL· 33315 Los Angeles, CA 90068 PO Box 172 tom installation). Columbia, SC 29202 Diek Howe Maurice &Fran Willyard 803 25& 0567/765 2965 referred by Mel Luchetti 351 N. Post Oak Lane #605 1988 NW Palmer Lane Houston, TX 77001 Bremerton, WA 98310 Michael A. Kukral 1910 Behr upr plyr; 1918 4192 Hart Rd. Story &Clark upr plyr; RonaId Olsen Henry ~& Elanor Michefelder Richfield, OH 44286 1924 Autopiano upr plyr; 3701 Newton Ave. No. 192 Shore View Dr. 216 659 6436 1894 Vocalon. Minneapolis, MN 55412 Chelsea, MI 48118 Louis &Joanne Pike 1923 Chickering 5' Ampico Tyler J. Smith Bill &Bobbie Mintz 64 Roving Rd. A; Newton 5'4" Welte Mig. RFD #2, Box 119 10336 Woodman Levittown, PA 19056 Lie.; 1919 P &E Cunning- Old Church Lane Mission Hills, CA 91345 215 946 1359 ham nick. (conversion) a So. Salem, NY 10590 roll; 1919 upr plyr std; 1915 Kahn upr Plyr H.C. Bay; Lester upr plyr; Elec- Dav id &Dale Silverman Richard I. Brown trova Nick. E. referred by Bob Bond 203 33 Lander Dr. 922 W. Sierra Madre Woo dland Hills, CA 91364 Fresno, CA 93705 Robert M. Davenport Mr. &Mrs. O.H. Frisbie 3106 Crescent Cir. SE 8162 E. Jefferson Huntsville, AL 35801 Detroit, MI 48214 referred by Bill Eicher CONVENTION "T"-SHIRTS

Mrs. Gertrude Morris AVAILABLE 1409 Greenwood Dr. referred by Al Johnson T-shirts with the 1977 San Francisco Convention Logo Ottumwa, IA 53501 are still available in sizes Medium, Large, and Ex­ 615 684 5076 tra Large for $6.50~ostpaid from Isadora Koff at 2141 Deodara Drive, Los Altos, California 94022. Dan Cooper 1923 Franklin upr Ampico A. 2108 14th St. Lubbock, TX 79401 806 747 5435

Dr. Robert C. Blough 1918 'Cunningham upr plyr std. 2302 Delancy Pl. ~ THE ULTIMATE DUO-ART CATALOG Philadelphia, PA 19103 215 735 1819 Are you the collector that should have John &Corinne Ruggieri Knabe 5'8" Ampico A; Mills an unused 1927 Duo-Art catalog in the RD 1, Alvine Rd. Violano single. original wax paper dust jacket and Elmer, NJ 08318 corrugated wrapper? 609 696 5164 This unusual catalog will be sold to Larry Losch 1926 McPhail upr plyr auto \the highest bidder over $275. Please RD #1, Box 327 delux; 1925 Hardman 5'4" \send your maximum bid in writing by Emmaus, PA 18049 Welte. November 15, 1977. The hi ghest bi dder 215 967 1368 will receive the catalog for $10.00 above the next highest bid (a copy of Player Piano Repair 1921 Welte player organ; that bid will be furnished to the 12 East 12th St. Aeolian grand reed org; 1923 highest bidder). New York, NY 10003 Haines 5' 8" Ampico A; 1928 212 243 5026 Fischer 5'3" Ampico A Louis XV; 1919 Hazelton 5' Welte Robert M. Taylor Lise.; 1937 Knabe 9' Ampic~ B; 1927 Steinway upr 1326 Spruce St. #3004 Welte green roll. Philadelphia, PA 19107 215-735-2662 CHANGE OF ADDRESS 'Karl &Robin Petersen Michael Walter 1009 S. Owyhee St. 488 Fredericka St. t: Boise, 10 83705 N. Tonawanda, NY 14120 FREE LISTS: All Types Rolls, Cylinder Records & Machines, Robert A. Mckanna David H. Wallis RR 2 Box 374E 547 Marengo Ave. Discs, Cobs, Sheet Music, Catalogs & Literature. Mechanical Music Long Grove, IL 60047 Forest Park, IL 60130 & Much More. Our 20th Year . Vi &; Si's Antiques 8970 Main St., Clarence. N.Y. 14031 FOR SALE: 1926 Fischer Ampico, 5' original finish, MUSIC BOX CATALOGUE 1 Hundreds of music boxes, nickel­ extensive player rebuild, mahogany with inlays. Plays odeons, band organs, phonographs, player pianos •. 112 very well, excellent tone. $4500, will consider Duo­ pages. $3 ppn . Sat~sfact1ion guaranteed. AIme:ican ,~ Art rolls as part payment. Tom Lillibridge, 1564 International Galler~es; 802-A Kettering, rv~ne, cA ~ Plateau Dr., Los Altos, CA 94022. (415) 948-4667. 92714.

WANTED: Complete B Model mechanism or will accept WURLITZER STYLE W THEATRE ORGAN. Upright large scale drawer alone. Also want inexpensive Ampico B Model piano with 3 ranks of pipes, duplex tracker frame, reproducing piano in any type of piano. JIM BRADY, piano keyboard and 61 note organ manual all in one 6202 Evanston, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220. 9-5 Phone case. Excellent restorable condition. Priced for (317) 259-4305. After 5:00 p.m. (317) 849-1469. quick disposal, only $4,800. Send SASE for further "- information to Ben Lodwick, 17887 Nassau Drive, FOR SALE: Blank reproduction tune card~ for Western Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005. AC 414-786-3748 or Electric (5/$1.00); Mills Violano (4/$t,.00) plus 25¢ 461-9905. postage. Ron Bopp, 505 Glenview, Joplin; MO 64801. \ 1922 FISCHER AMPICO A REPRODUCING GRAND,S' 7", . fUlly ORIGINAL LITERATURE WANTED: Will purchase or trade restored, new pin block, strings, player action re­ for original Ampico, Duo-Art, and Welte Mignon lit­ built, beautiful case, hand rubbed walnut finish, erature. Also want catalogs, service manuals, etc., original ~vories. $6500. Extra, fifty rolls, old for all types of mechanical musical instruments. Dick and new. J. B. Burkhardt, 3224 N. 41st Place, Phoenix, Howe, 351 North Post Oak Lane 605, Houston, TX 77024. AZ 85018, phone (602) 955-2378.

FOR SALE: 5'8" Louis XV Knabe Ampico circa 1927 FOR SALE: Aeolian DUO ART Pipe Organ. 2M5R. Includes $9500. Seeburg model A $3500. Peerless A roll piano rolls, Degan chimes, and bench. Unrestored, but in $3000. Peerless style D $1250. Baby Ampico upright good condition. The main chest, relays, and one rank studio $4000. Don Teach, 10043 Stratmore, Shreveport, of string pipes are missing. $2500. Bill Schneider, LA 71105. 761 Mariners Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401. Phone (301) 757-4729.

BUYING: AMPICO, DUO-ART, WELTE & OTHER TYPE OF 160 Ampico rolls in large refinished antique music ROLLS. DESCRIBE AND PRICE. roll cabinet. Rolls are mixed classical and popular, ALTMAN, 8970 Main St., Clarence, N.Y. 14031. 95 percent original and all in good condition. $990 for the lot. No separate sales. Ronald White, 5770 McKellar urive, San Jose, CA 95129. Phone (408) 996­ WILL PAY FOR INFORMATION and/or help leading to the 3731. repair and restoration of my North Tonowanda Military Organ, model unknown. Manufactured in 1908. Call FOR SALE: Phonograph collection, cylinder and di9C, or write Ben Lodwick, 17887 Nassau Drive, Brookfield, and one radio, all external horn. $2000, Send SASE Wisconsin 53005. AC 414-786-3748 or 461-9905. for details. Bill Schneider, 761 Mariners Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401. Phone (301) 757-4729. FOR SALE: Vacuum gauges, Marshalltown brand, 2~" face, 0 to 30 inch H20, with snubbing orifice and 5/32"nipple. New, calibrated, guaranteed. $9.00 postpaid in U.S.: W. E. Flynt, 1722 Iroquois Drive, Garland, TX 75043.

FOR SALE: Western Electric "Derby" race horse nickel­ REAR COVER ADVERTISING odeon. Place your bets~ drop nickel in slot and horses race around track. Piano gives forth with a snappy ~ Amican wishing to have exclusive tune. Horses cross the finish line. Did you pick the rights to the half-page advertising "Winner"? Gambling with music. Nelsen Vliggen 5X space on the rear cover of the Bul­ Dance-O-Grand rare model, 6 ft. tall with expression letin is advised this is awarded to shutter that opens in rear. Nelsen Wiggens style 8 the highest bidder for a one year (xylophone &glockenspeil) plays G rolls. Deagan term. Minimum bid is $300.00. Unifon. Mira Orchestrial Grand music box, Wurlitzer 153 Orchestrial band organ, Aeolian ,Duo-Art upright, Those wishing to bid must send a card Krakhauer Welte grand, set of original brass horns for requesting bidding instructions and Wurlitzer 125 band organ. Skill flip gambling machine advertising details to: with 5 cash payoff jack pots by Pace Mfg. Co. Creators stand in pop corn wagon 1938. Also other nickelodeon Tom Beckett, Publisher pianos. Stafford, Box 96, Fishkill, NY 12524. 6817 Cliffbrook Dallas, TX 75240 WANTED: Wall box for Seeburg, Wurlitzer, Western­ Electric, other nickelodeons. Ron Bopp, 505 Glenview, by October 15, 1977. This bidding Joplin, Missouri 64801. will be for advertising in 1978. Duo-Art and Ampico ROLL AUCTION. List 50¢. 6' 2" Duo­ Art Steinway, XR 244965, restored, refinished. Cas­ sette $3. Art Faner, 555 Winter N.E., Salem, Oregon. THROUGH YOU I LIVE FOREVER

A nostalgic look at reproducing player piano advertising THE M A $ TE .\. .S from 1905 to 1929.

• 108 pages - 8%" x 11" - 8 color plates - paper cover.

• Reproductions of original advertisements in period magazines from the collection of Mark D. Zahm ­ Edited by Tom Beckett.

• Major emphasis on Ampico, Welte and Duo-Art sys­ tems. Includes coverage of rolls, recording artists, and pianos on location. G'/7;rough lou I Live %rever" • $4.95 postpaid from:

A NOSTALGIC LOOK AT RfPROOlJCINGPlAV(R PlANO AOVfRTfSINO fROMl905TOI9?\l Beckett Productions 6817 Cliffbrook Dallas, Texas 75240

Texas Residents add .25 State Tax

SPECIAL OFFER TO AMICANS • EUBIES OWN BOOK • EACH COPY PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED REMINISCING WITH SISSLE AND BLAKE A scrapbook history of the lives of Noble Sissie and Eubie Blake!

Eubie Blake, composer and ragtime pianist, is over 90 years of age. In the early 20's he recorded Player Piano Rolls for the Rythomodik and Mel-O-Dee Labels. Team­ ed with Noble SissIe, Eubie penned the score for the Broadway show "Shuffle Along" and its hit tune "I'm Just Wild About Harry". This 256 page hardcover book tells the story of two of America's great black artists and composers, as they forged their way through vaude­ ville, Tin Pan Alley, and the Broadway theatres. This account revives a lost period of theatrical history with rare old photographs, posters, newspaper clippings, and personal recollections of the era. PRICE: $12.95 Send check or money order to: QRS Music Rolls, Inc. 1026 Niagara St. Buffalo, N.Y. 14213 Automatic Musical Instruments W buy, sell and restore reproducing player grands, playerorgans, nickelodeons, uprights,oKhestrions and musical clocks.

Player Piano Repair 12 Easr 12rh Srreer NewYork, N.Y 10003 212 243-5026 World's Largest Selection of AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS! Musicboxes.! Reproducing pianos by Ampico, Duo-Art, and Welte! Nickelodeons! Orchestrions! Hundreds of automatic musical instruments ,for sale at wholesale prices! Send $3 for The Player Piano Shop, in Seattle's historic our fascinating "AIG Review." You've never seen another catalog like it. Satisfaction guaranteed. Or, send $10 for a Pioneer Square. 1500 square feet with piazza­ SUbscription to the next six Issues, Nearly 1,000 instruments are now in stock-the world's style show rooms, eight major power tools, largest inventory. Complete facilities for low cost shipping to you, Our network of buyers in America and in Europe three player pianos, new stock of music rolls, (Claes Friberg in Copenhagen is our European directod gives you the best selection at lowest prices-there are no middle­ all necessary materials and supplies for the men or agents to pay, Our California showroom is open Wednesday through Satur­ immediate retail sale and selVice of player day 9 A.M, to noon and 1 to 4 P.M, We are a quick 15 minute drive south of Disneyland, just a few minutes from the nearest freeway, Visit us the next time you are in the pianos and reed organs. Excellent reputation Los 'Angeles area, A wonderland of autom,tic musical instru­ ments awaits youl In addition you can see fabulous orches­ statewide, well established market with a trions, organs, and pianos. in our educational exhibit. We can supply the seven-pound, 1,008 page, illustrated superb growth potential throughout the "Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments" fbr $30 postpaid-the standard reference book in the field. Qwr Pacific Northwest. References available. In­ 7,000 copies sold, Satisfaction guaranteed, Are you an active collector, dealer, or museum? Then being quiriesshould be addressed to M. Silver, 75 on the AIG mailing list is a MUST! Directors of American International Galleries are: Bonnie Tekstra, Terry Hathaway, Yesler Way, Seattle, Washington, 98104. Dave Sowers, Claes 0, Friberg, \\NAT/ AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL .....l~~.·"r~J;~;< ~'t£'I'-'!W;i;J..B~ Telephone (206) 622.4204 Sunday-Friday. GALLERIES u~,,,, r-" 1802-A,K,ettering Street ¢.~~. ~ Irvine, <;A, 92714 U.S,A. "',.;" ~ Tel. (714) 754-1777 I- ~,,- •• ,,+ I- PLAYER PIANO OWNERS .... RE·CUT YOUR STANDARD POPULAR ROLLS .. MECHANICAL SYSTEMS INC. $20.00 PER TITLE M81 LUBBOCK, TEXAS ADDITIONAL COPIES $4.00 EACH NO MINIMUM ORDER OR QUANTITY That's rightl Now you may order just Q!l§. re-cut of OrchestrioIll Components your favorite popular standard roll (20-30 feet). Don't pay for unwanted copies. Frayed edges are no problem for us. We use a full quality, lint Iree, 3 pt. dry waxed and! Supplies pa.per for our re-cuts. All old rolls ate returned along your new re~uts - packaged In new boxes tor your pro­ tection and storage'. Be certain to include any special Instructions for multiple copies. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. No reproducing rolls at this time, please. YOU MUST BE SATISFIEDU Clip and return with order

CRAIG'S PIANO SHOPPE 925 SOUTHOVER TOLEDO. OHIO 43612 (419) 478~4711 Name' _ Phone ~), _ Complete Address _

Total # Rolls to be REH)ut_ x $20.00 = $ _ Total Additional Copies_x $ 4.00 = $, _ Postage & Hand ling $,_-x$3~.""O;.::O__ TOTAL (Check or Money Order MUST accompany YQur order) $ _ P. O. Box 1094 SEND YOUR ROLLS INSURED AND SPECIAL lUbbock, texas 79408 4TH CLASS SOUND RECORDING RATE. Manufacturer of Auiomaied. Musical Insirumenis 2235 'H' Slreel Bakersfield CaLf. 93301 805-322-5058 Now Lar8er & BeHer Than Ever

• ROSEWOOD XYLOPHONES

• WOOD VIOLIN PIPES

• WOOD F'LUTEPIPES

• MOST ORCHESTRIAN PRODUCTS Super Quoldy Produd$ Wdh Prompi Delivery Wrde ForOur AJ I New Catalogu5

8 tiL LET IN Nonprofi t Org. Tom 13eckett u.s. POSTA'GE AMICA Publisher· PAID AUTOMATIC MtJSICAL INSTRUMENT COlLECTQRS' ASSOCIATION A'ld:f.son, Tit•. 75240 6817 Cliffbrook . Da i 1as. Texa s Permi~ No. 19. DATID MATERIAL

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Program

THURSDAY, SeptE!mber 1, 1977 12 noon - 6:00 p.m. Registration ..... ,,,.,,, ... ,,, .. ,,,,.,,, .. ,.,, .. , ... ,,,,,.,.,,.,, .Hotel Mezzanine 5:30 - 8:30 p;m. Wine Tasting and Photoplayer, , .. ,,,,,.,,,,.,,,,,.,.; .. ,,. At Dick Reutllnger's bome Hostess, Diane Hayden 824 Grove Street, Cable Car BU$ Slwttle ."FRIDAY, September 2, 1977 " " 9:00 a.m, -6:00p,m.Reglstratlon"", .. , .... "", .. ",." :., ",.""".,.: ,'., ", Hotel Mezzanine 8:00 - 9:00 a,m. Breakfast. ,.,,.,,,,,,,,.,",,, , Ballroom 9:00 - 11:30 a.m. Techn\@! Sepions : ; Stjilvenson Room 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. How,JpPick A Good Piano , Bill Johnson 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. Where'ro Start ;.; ...... •...... BlII Wherry Optional Activtty , 9;3Q;a.m. -12noon Victorian House Tour...... •.... , H()St. Victorian Alliance 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch, ...... Ballroom 2:00 - 2:45 p.m. ' Robert Armbruster Concert Ballroom 2:45 - 3:15 p.m. Tape Ampico Piano Concert, ,...... Ballroom 3:15 - 3:45 p.m.' Ursula'Hollingshead and Jeanette Hollingshead ConCert ' Ballroom 3:45 - 4:30 p.m. Edwin Lester Conc~ ...... •...... •...... Ballroom 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. No-Host Bar ',' ',' .. ' J ••••• Ballroom 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Dinner ,', Ballroom' 8:30p.m. From Carillon to Ampichton Ballroom SATURDAY, September 3, 1977 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Registration .....•...... •. , Mezzanine of Ballroom 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast '. < •••••••••••••••••••••,Ballroorn 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Technical Sessions ' : 8allroom 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. ArtrIo-An~lus, Wilcox & White.. ; Ed Hayden 10:00 - 10:30 a.m. They All Built Player Pipe Organs (Welte and Aeolian Organ Companies) .. , Doug Hickling 10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Amplco Tape Mechanism Wayne Stanky 11:00 - 11:30 a,m. New Universal Player"Plano and Orchestrion Spool Box Design Iver Becklund 11:45a.m.-12:30p.m.Lunch , Ballroom GROUP A 12:30 p.m." First buses'leave for Jackling Estate 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Tom HllZleton Concert and Aeolian Duo-Art and , Kilgen Dual-Control Concert ; Host, Mel Luchetti 3:10 p.m. Buses leave for Ralston Estate 3:45 - 5:00 p.m. Tour Ralston Estate and Welte Vorsetzer Concert , Host, Dick Reutlinger 5:15 p.m. Buses leave for Hotel GROUPB 12:45 p.rn. Last buses leave for Ralston Estate. 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Tour Ra1sto"'~teaw.( Welte VorsetterConcett .. " ...... •...... Host, Dick Reutlinger 3:15 p.m. Buses leave' fOf ck.ckling Estate 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Tom Hazleton Concert and Aeolian Duo-Art and KlIgen Dual-Control Concert '. Host, Mel Luchettl 5:15 p.m. Buses leave for Hotel 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. No-Host Bar " : : Ballroom 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Dinner , Ballroom 8:30p.m. Euble B~ke Concert, .. :. '.' : ..' , Ballroom ;·SUNDAY" September 4,,1977 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Brunch : ,,, .. , Ballroom 11:00 §\.m. - 12 noon Ruth Bi1'l9aman Smith Concert , , ; " Ballroom 12 noon - 1:30 p.m. Annual ~eetlng ...... •... " ;, Stevenson Room 1:15 - 2:45 p.m. Flea Market , '" ' $tevenson Room 3:15 - 4:30 p.m. Tea Dance .. " .. , , ,, Ballroom 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Flora Mora Concert , .. ,, ,, B.allroom 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. No-Host Bar. , '" . Ballroom 6:15 - 6:30 p.m. A film by Denis Condon ', , StevensQO Roopl 1:00 ~ 8:30 p.m. Banquet. : .:'. , ,gallroom 9:00 p.m.' Frank Denke Concert : : ': Ballroom MONDAY, September 5, 1977 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Farewell Breakfast , ,,,.,,,,, .. , Ballroom 11:30 a.m. Open Houses Ray Siou. 1616 East 14th Street, Oakland Jackling Estate, 460 Mountain Home Road, Woodside Jarod"C1ark. 444 Brannan Street, San Francisco Phil Strauss. 813 Grove Street, San Francisco Robert Summers Armbruster was born in Philadelphia in 1896. "I was an only child. My mother played a little piano. I can only remember one piece in E-Flat; it was called 'The Maiden's Prayer' and I disliked it in infancy and still do." Young Robert showed talent at quite an early age, and at nine he was studying with the great pianist, composer and teacher, Constantin Sternberg.

Robert developed a reputation as a prodigy in Philadelphia, performing a Schumann concerto under the baton of Leopold Stokowski. At that time his reputation did not extend to New York, but that didn't prevent him from presenting himself at the AEolian Company while in town visiting a cousin, and wearing his first pair of long trousers. He recorded six salon pieces, the first of which was Dreyshock's Petite Ronde (Duo-Art No. 5612), and continued to make recordings before and after graduation from high school. He even made some recordings while on leave from the Naval Reserve, and is pictured in uniform on some of the rolls.

Impressed by his understanding of the unique requirements of reproducer recordings he was offered an attractive contract at AEolian and placed in charge of operatic, salon and semi-classic music. One of Duo-Art's most popular and prolific artists, Armbruster also recorded lesser compositions under the fictitious names 'Henry Bergman,' 'Gene Waldron' and 'Robert Summers.'

Mr. Armbruster left New York in 1937 to become conductor for the Chase & Sanborn Hour, which featured Edgar Bergan, Dorothy Lamour, Don Ameche and Nelson Eddy. He also conducted the Cavalcade of America, Kraft Program, Cresta Blanca, and many other radio programs. Although he didn't work with her in films, he conducted numerous of Jeanette MacDonald's phonograph records, and after her death he learned that she had willed to her "dear friend Robert Armbruster" a beautiful antique spinet he'd often admired in her home.

He was head of Music for NBC's Western Division for six years, conducted the Hollywood Bowl Concerts for five years, and was the head of M.G.M.'s Music Department for eight years. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Unsinkable Molly Brown, but he considers the Marlon ndg:~'Of;;;:;n:i~~~~;t;'Jf~ B..

Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead was.born in Cleveland, Ohio, and studied at the Roche;!et1cZrf Music, later becoming a well-known concert pianist who appeared both in person and on rolls for. various companies.

Her career has been put in book form; reminiscences entitled Ten Cents a Lesson, which it is hoped will soon be published, will give a wealth of information concerning a fascinating era. The reason for the title is that when she was a child of nine it was difficult for her family to raise the money for her weekly lessons, and so, in her own words, 'I set forth and solicited all the kids in the neighborhood and taught them what had been taught me for ten cents a lesson ... thus I raised the dollar every week and this was the beginning of my musical career.'

After a period of study, and having become an artist who was gifted with musicianship, showmanship, style, stage-presence, interpretation and drive, she had acquired all the necessary attributes, and so then found an 'Impresario' in the form of the Melville-Clark Piano Company in Chicago. After she won a scholarship, the company decided to give tours, providing concerts and 'Comparison Concerts' with the artist and the 'Art-Apollo' Reproducing piano which they manufactured. Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead made vast public appearances comparing her playing with her recordings. She was one of the first to tour in this manner, and later other companies toured with their own instru­ ments and artists. After this interesting period, she recorded for the Ampico and the Duo-Art and concertized in such cities as Buffalo, New York, where she took up residence after getting married. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas. Edwin Lester Edwin Lester is best known as the Founder and General Director of the Los Angeles and San francisco Civic Light Opera Association which, under his continued guidance since its formation in 1938, has become the most illustrious and successful organization of its kind in the country, perhaps the world.

While Mr. Lester has turned over the major responsibilities of the Civic Light Opera, he is still very active In Its affairs.. at his office daily, with the understanding that he will continue to produce a light opera each Season at his own discretion.

Prior to founding the Civic Light Opera, Mr. Lester had two very different careers, the first in his teens as a pianist and a performer, the second in the musical instrument business. He started as a piano salesman in his early 20's. In his second year he won the American Piano Company's award as the top Ampico salesman in the United States. He also recorded for the Ampico. Among his 'fine recordings are: Gypsy Love Waltzes by Lehar, Romberg Waltzes and Sari Waltzes. As a result of this unique early experience he knows a great deal about the Ampico, its birth and development, which practically ceased when radio became the major source of home entertainment. He subsequently became General Manager of the Platt Music Company in Los Angeles, with 28 branch stores there and outlets In San Francisco. His third career began in 1932 as a manager of singers; and the outgrowth of that was the formation of the Civic Light Opera.

Thomas Hazleton Thomas Hazleton received his formal education at San Francisco State University and was graduated with a Bachelor of Music Degree. ,He has done graduate study at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has studied with Robert M. Forbes, Brooke P. Piper, Harold Muller, and the famed t Richard Purvis. Among his appointments Mr. Hazleton was formerly Organist-Choirmaster at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto. He was also the last staff organist of the Paramount Theatre in San Francisco. As Sub-organist at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco he played for the Cathedral's dedication. At present he is organist for the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. He is also staff organist for the Cap'ns Galley Pizza and Pipes Restaurant In Redwood City.

Thomas Hazleton is one of the few organists in the world who is both a top rated theatre and classical organist. He performs many programs each year which show the versatility of his dual musical personality of theatre and classic organ on the same program or separately.

Added to these abilities he Is actively used as a tonal consultant and concert artist for a number of the leading pipe and electronic organ builders. He was responsible for the redesigned specification of the 4-manual 26-rank Mighty Wurlitzer in the Cap'ns Galley. He has recorded for Concert Recordings, Maylor and Capital Custom records. He has eleven organ recordings to his credit.

Thomas Hazleton's programs are designed for people to hear organ music played in the grand manner - exciting and spellbinding enchantment.

The Daniel C. Jackling Mansion The year 1929 marked the completion of the mansion and two hundred acre estate of the late Colonel Daniel C. Jackllng in WoodSide, California.

The custom of the era, among people of means, was to provide space for the installation of a tr reproducing residence pipe organ. This was accomplished at the West end of the large game room. In July of 1930 a contract was signed with the prestigious Aeolian Company for a modest two manual fourteen rank organ equipped with the Duo-Art roll player. With the excellent musical progress of a favorite niece, Miss Virginia Allen, thought was given to the enlargement and total reconstruction of th~ Aeolian organ. Consultation with Miss Allen's teacher of organ, the celebrated Pietro Yon, produced the plan to enlarge the instrument to a full four manual and to enlarge the instrument to ill full four mar1\.~al and to change the tonal character from purely orchestral to romantic classic.

The George Kilgen Company was contracted in 1938 to provide the additional components and pipework. The North wall of the game room was altered to hold the new chOir and Echo chambers. A subfloor relay room and a blower room enlargement were provided, the latter to house the original and and a second Spencer blower. The Aeolian organ was retained in the rebuild, alpng with most of the original pipework.

The Aeolmn Duo-Art player was removed from the two manual console and mounted in a separate cabinet along with a Kelgen Dual Control (Roesler-Hunholz Concert Model) roU player.

Work was completed in September of 1938 and it is understood that Pietro Yon personally super­ vised the tonal finishing of the new organ.

The estate remained the home of Colonel and Mrs. Jackling until their deaths in the nineteen fifties. The organ suffered from neglect, abuse and water damage through two subsequent ownerships until the mansion was purchased in 1974 by Mr. and Mrs, Robert Lloyd. They enthusiastically endorsed a complete restoration of the instrument which required two years to complete. The pipe organ is now restored to its original condition and has not been tonally altered. The organ represents a fine example of the last years of residence organ building in America.

The William C. Ralston Mansion In September 1851, Billy Ralston, the 25 year-old captain of the steamship New Orleans, sailed into f1'1 San Francisco bay. In August 1875 William C. Ralston, well-known San Franciscan and president of The Bank of California, died while sWimming in the waters ~f the bay. He was forty-nine years old.

In the intervening years less than a quarter of a century - Ralston, with his many and diverse enterprises, became the epitome of the nineteenth-century tycoon to whom nothing seemed impossible.

His optimism and drive created railroad, telegraph, and steamship companies, woolen mills, sugar refineries and furniture factories. To help accomplish all thiS, he founded The Bank of California. He founded and built the West Coast's finest hotel, The Palace, served as one of the first regents of the University of California and entertained like a prince in his lavish homes.

Needing occasional escape from his pressures, he found it in raising fine horses and in erecting an opulent mansion at Belmont. Originally the Belmont site had belonged to an Italian count named Cipriani. Cipriani had fabricated a house in Italy, had it shipped to San Francisco, hauled the pieces down the peninsula, where, on rising ground, he reassembled the far-traveled domicile.

In 1864 he offered the land and house for sale, Ralston snapped. them up and christened the place Belmont and for a while the building grew like topsy. Architects were summoned to impose some sort of pattern on the sprawl at Belmont. What emerged was a mansion classified as Italian Renaissance. Belmont did not go the full route, however, and the building lacks much of the gingerbread that was popular during the 'same period. ..

The Verandah that embraced most of the house was modeled after the promenade deck of a MiSSiSSippi River steamboat. The verandah at Belmont was enclosed with glass and filled with greenery. Wide doors opened from it into an airy draWing room; a library walled with leatherbound books; a music room that contained a grand piano handmade of Hawaiian koa wood; a h:uge pale-green ballroom; and a dining room capable of seating. in a pinch, 110 guests. An ingenious system of overhead ventilation kept fresh air moving through disguised louvers into each main room. Ralston loved to awe his guests at Belmont. Guests would be led through the reception room and the central court into the library. After a long pause, Ralston gave a signal. An entire wall slid softly upwards, revealing the dining room banquet hall luxurious with damask, silver and choice porcelain. Behind each chair stood a Chinese waiterjn a white uniform.

Ralston began to add another guest wing to the mansion. So far the place had been totally his and at times, his wife Li~e, felt like a stranger in it. One day when she knew that her husband would begone for an extended period, she asserted herself. She called in carpenters tore down the wans at the head of the main staircase, and circled the ballroom with a spacious' balcony divided Into protruding bows like the facades of box stalls In an opera house. On his return, Ralston was delighted. An unenthusiastic dancer himseH, he ever afterward enjoyed sitting in one of the bows with friends to watch-the dancers below swirl through the glade of mirrors.

To a great extent the mansion has been restored and today is part of the College of Notre Dame, '9;olkun;- _6&-..o/-~ S'~/9;; rA.de EUble~~e ~r £1rwk. For most of his 94 years, Euble Blake has been a giant of American music.' Euble was 110m February 7, 1883. John Summer Blake, a stevedore and Emily Johnston Blake, a ~undress were his parents. They were former slaves. Eubie was the only one of eleven children to reach adulthood.

He began playing the organ when he was 6 years old. His mother was not pleased when she heard him playing church hymns in a syncopat¢ manner. She had not realized that her son's playing had been influenced by the shouts of worshipers and the rhythmic responses of the congregation in her own church.

In 1897 Euble heard Jessie Pickett, a ragtime piano player from the south, play his Dream Rag. This slow drag was popular in the sporting houses and had a strong impact on the women who worked there. A year later he got his first job as a piano player at Agnes Shelton's sporting house.

1905 to 1914 he worked in Atlantic City playing in all the night spots. In 1914 James P. Johnson went to Atlantic City and heard Euble playing at the Belmont. He felt Eubie was a marvelous song player and liked a couple of Eubie's rags. Troublesome Iuories, Cheue Chase, Poor Katie Red, Tricky Fingers and Charleston Rag were some of the songs that he had composed by then.

In 1915, he teamed up with Noble Sissie. Together they set out to put the Negro bac~ the legitimate stage. Their first collaboration was It's All Your Fault, written for Sophie Tucker. James Reese Europe brought Sissie and Blake together. Europe believed that with Sissie and Blake writing the music and MlIIer and Lyles furnishing the book the quartet could produce musical comedy and restore authentic Negro artistry to Broadway. The result was Shuffle Along, opening in 1921.

He collaborated with Andy Razaf on Blackbirds of 1930. Memories of You is still a beautiful song heard today. This was the end of an era. In 1930 the Negro musical and the incomparable creations of Its composers and writers began to disappear from Broadway. Eubie continued to write for the theater (another edition of Shuffle Along. 1932; a show for the W.P.A., 1937 SWing It), but most of his works, including beautiful scores with Noble Sissie, Andy Razaf and gifted Joshua Milton remain manuscripts in his home.

He embarked on a new career as a performer, l~cturer and honored guest at ragtime and Jazz festivals where he reintroduced ragtime as it was played at the turn of the century to a new generation. When he is not on lecture tours he and his wife, Marion Tyler Blake (she danced in Dixie to Broadway and KeepShufflin'. was a longtime secretary to w.e. Handy) enjoy life in their handsome Brooklyn home. He continues to compose.

He has recently put out a record album with Joan Morris and William Balcom - Wild About Eubie on Columbia. The songs are of Eubie's music and the collaboration has been a very happy one. Ruth Bingaman Smith f Ruth Bingaman first appeared in public at the age of four when she sang and danced on a programs at the Old Soldier's Home in Dayton, Ohio;.Piano instruction started at six years and progressed so rapidly that at the age of ten she first entered concert work, playing Beethoven's C MajOr Concerto with the San Antonio, Texas, Symphony Orchestra. Her success caused her to be hailed as a prodigy.

Concertizing and public appearances continued throughout her school career after which she made her formal debut, again as soloist with the San Antonio Orchestra. Following this tremendous success, Miss Bingaman went taNew York to continue her studies under eminent master teachers. Some years later she attended Yale University Music School for a course in Theory, Composition and Music History, as well as piano study with Bruce Simonds.

Following a New York recital she had engagements with two Metropolitan Opera stars as accompanist and assistant soloist and a tour of the Keith-Orpheum circuit throughout the East and in New York City. She made many recordings for Welte-Mignon corporation In New York City, including MacDowell's Hungarian Dance Op. 39 No. 12, Carpenter's Polonaise Amerlcaine, Moszkowski's Pres du Berceau Op. 50 No.3. Leschetizky's Tarante/le, and compositions by Guion, Schutt, Steinfeldt, Sternberg and Wolff. ~T '\ 'S~ (k.. -. ~ .. ~ 0 ~ Flora Mora =s)eo~~ ~~a-.- -l - '1-1 FloraMora~iSZ9UIShed pianist, teacher, author and Duo-Art piano roll artist was born in New York City, November 24, 1894. Her early musical training was In Luisa Chartrand de Gonzalez's Academy. In 1911 she was presented,by her teacher in a recital before the whole corps of music teachers f in Havana as an extraordinarY model of a student. The recital consisted of forty concert studies. -

In 1915 the government appointed her its musical representative at the International Exposition held at San Francisco. She gave concerts there and in other cities in California. Miss Mora created a special form of recital with comments which were succeS$fully performed in Europe and Am~rica. Complete programs of Granados' music were performed. In 1916 she formed the Granados Con­ servatory, wrote articles for newspapers and acted as judge in the newly created schools. The National Council of Veterans donated her their gold medal.

Her American debut at New York was in 1919 at Aeolian Hall. It was in 1920 that she made the Duo-Art piano rolls for the Aeolian Company and G. Schirmer, Incorporated published her Modern Piano Method for Beginners. Another recital was performed In 1920 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Three concert-conferences were performed in 1924 on the form of the sonata in a style which she created where she was the speaker and the performer.

In 1935 Miss Mora was appointed Chief of General Culture of the Ministry of Education and gave several concert-conferences. She worked toward establishing a curriculum for schools to teach music with an educational purpose while for the first time offering free concerts to students.

Returning to Cuba in 1945, she began her manuscript of Primary Musical Pedagogy. Another tour was made in the United States in 1947 where she took a superior course on the English language, another on music and film and the third course on the traditional music for the Bible.

Miss Mora was Director of Art of Patronato Pro Educaclon Audio Visual in 1959. She resigned the post in the Ministry of Education and in 1969 was permitted to come to the United States. Miss Mora has composed songs, piano pieces and orchestral works and written numerous pamphlets t and books. Her Duo-Art piano rolls are of the compositions of Granados along with works of Chopin and other composers. Frank Denke He started in the San Francisco Bay Area as an "ear player" and has certainly become the best known pianist in the area. By the time he was nine, his parents started him on formal training with the best teachers to be found. At Oakland's Technical High School he was one of a vast number of n;lUsicians trained by Herman Trutner, whose students became famous as bandleaders and side men during the swing era. While at Tech High he was accompanist for the Choral Group and played in the bands. Then to Chicago Musical College to study under Rudolph Gans and ready himself for the "big time. "

It was the. days of the pit orchestras in the theatres and here Frank found .. his niche for several years; at the San Francisco Fox, Granada and Warfield; with such great leaders as Walt Roesner, Tom Poleti, Jay Brewer, Rube Wolfe and Frank Jenks (he became a famous movie actort, The hotel bands beckoned and he was swinging with Anson Weeks, Phll Harris and Xavier Cugat. Radio stations used his talent for twenty years as a· result of a nod from Meredith Wilson at NBC, San Francisco. He was one of Albert White's "Masters of Melo<:\y" , then staff pianist for CBS, San Francisco.

In 1957 while on the CBS staff, Frank joined the revived Anson Weeks Orchestr~ 'at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, and made the new historic recordings and broadcasts. Then to "Station J," a nightclub with a combo, in a former power station. 1961 saw Denke with a gypsy violinist, then in 1965 to his present position at the Terrace Room in the St.Francis Hotel as solo pianist. From 1961 through 1971 he also taught in the Music Department of Cal State College in Hayward.

Denke's biggest thrills were doing "Rhapsody In Blue" with the NBC Orchestra under the baton of Ferde Grofe and later with Arthur Fiedler. It has been a busy and rewarding career. It wasn't just the musicianship that made it so, for Frank has a winning and warm personality. He lives in Piedmont, California with his proud family - right back in the "East Bay" where he started , playing by.ear! ~. Allegro moderato. ." llA.~ .!'. .l!..

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Convention Committees

ChOitman Sally Lawrence GraphicS & Publications' MeFluchetti Program Gar Britton Publicity Lloyd Egenes Honoraries Alf.Werolin Howard Kof{ Nick Jarrett .~~;.' Stu Hunter TEtchlffEalities Phil McCoy Treasurer Richard, Reutlinger ...:..... "' . Housing & Food Richard ReutJing~r Transpt>riation David Fryman Registrar I$adora }{Off: Exhibitors William Johnson . Diane Lillybridge Hospitality Barbara Whitely Phyllis McCoy, Margret Wilcox f Roberta Cherney Diane Hayden Marjorie Werolin ' Acknowledgements loaned Instruments

The song sheets and sheet music are donated by Iver and Vel Becklund Frank Adams, Automatic Music Roll Co., Seattle, • Vorsetzer German Welte Washington. We wish to thank Frank for his gift. Ed and Diane Hayden Wilcox & White Artrio-Angeles Christian BrotherS Winery, one of the world's pre­ Bill and Ann Johnson miere wine makers from the famous Nilpa Valley, Mills Viola no has graciously donated Its wine and staff to make our Howard and Isadora Koff wine tasting a gala affair. Their world-famous Grey­ Steinway Duo-Art stone in Napa Valley is open for tours daily. Thank Dale and Sally Lawrence you, Christian Brothers. Birds. Celestina, Music Boxes Mel Luchetti Q.R.S. Rolt Co., of Buffalo, New York, long-time Victor Orthophonic Victrola friend of AMICA, has donated to the Convention Mason & Hamlin Ampico their roll San Francisco. We wish to express our Regina 27" Disc Music Box gratitude to Ramsl Tick and his staff, who have made AI Neilson . possible this gift to those attending the Convention. Gali/oUi Barrel Organ Thank you, Q.R.S. Richard Reutlinger Wurlitzer Photoplayer Many thank. to Mr. and Mrs:. Robert Lloyd, of Wood­ Bill Wherry side, for graCiOusly opening their home to' us so we Empress Electric Orchestrion might see and hear the 4-56 Kilgen pipe organ. They proVide us a rare chance to hear two repro­ ducing players plus a live performance.

AMICA International Northern. California Officers Officers

Bob Rosencrans President Howard Koff President Richard Drewni~, Vice President ...... ~ .'Phil McCoy Vice President Isadora Kofff Secretary: ..... Rk:hlmH~euttlnger Secretary Tom;a.~' Bulletin \:~ Bill Wherry . Treasurer Anita Jihnson Membership Secretary Stuart Hunter Reporter Jack and Mary Riffle Treasurf!rs.,.

Best wishes for a successfal conveation. M',I MECH~:~:~Ct~~~:; INC.

''-!lI------'---Orchestrion Components ;"''»'.1';", and Supplies ~I