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February 15 The great summitThe Keystone crew was in Frederick, Maryland Feb. 6th to attend a screening of the lost (and now found) silent film "Beyond The Rocks" starring Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson. Accompanying on the mighty Wurlitzer was Ray Brubacher. We arrived early for Richard Groman to assist Doug Miller in tuning the pipes numbering over 600. We were fortunate to be joined by Spencer Chase, Warren Trachtman and Joe and Lauren Orens. There was time for us all to have dinner at the local brew pub before showtime.
Warrren and Spencer followed us back to Bethlehem, PA after the show and were guests of Richard Groman for most of the weekend during which many of the nuances of roll mastering, editing and technological advancement were discussed. Warren gave us a demo of his new USB scanning software and was present while several 88 note rolls were edited, perforated and played on the Lauter foot pumper. Spencer showed us many of the utilities he has written relating to scanning and rendering. He is now testing a new perforator control program which could allow a PC to replace the older MIDI sequencer which depends on (sometimes unreliable) floppy disk technology. There was considerable discussion on paper characteristics, lyric printing and web hosting. On the latter subject, I would expect to see some progress soon since some new people are becoming involved. The response to the latest printed catalog has been excellent and we're hearing very positive feedback about the product quality.
The next technological advancement will be the addition of a modern programmable motion controller and stepper motor with gearhead to the now computerized Ampico perforator. Classical enthusiasts need not worry. The number 2 perforator is untouched and still operates from the traditional paper stencil masters and is making beautiful rolls with its brand new die set. Today, I finished the bench testing of the motion controller. It is able to read a BCD thumbwheel switch and execute any of 10 different pre-programmed step rates. We have effectively surmounted the limitations of the available change gears and should now be able to perforate many more piano roll formats including the Aeolian/Ampico titles issued during the merger period. With microstepping, the overall length of a remastered roll can be matched to the original roll with a precision of one sixteenth inch. The holy grail of hole-to-hole roll copying is now within our grasp!
On the home front, the Chickering Ampico restoration is moving forward. The piano was picked up today by Modern Piano Moving. The 40 foot trailer was filled with 20 pianos and one Ford Ranger which will be employed on a challenging delivery in Maine. Russ, Joe, Ken and (dog) Maggie will be making stops in Rhode Island, Massachussetts and Maine before heading back to NY and Allentown, PA where my Chickering will be delivered to John Zeiner and Sons for full restoration and refinishing. That will take at least until early Summer to complete. So far, I've rehinged, covered and sealed four of the larger pneumatics and will start on the crescendos next. Will try and get some progress photos for the next blog entry. |
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