Success! The new perforator drive system, tested last weekend, has 'touched' the holy grail of piano roll copying! At last, it is now possible to recut ANY original reproducing piano roll with hole-to-hole alignment from beginning to end! Extensive testing has proven the capability of the original Ampico Taft Pierce perforator to manufacture piano rolls having precisely the same step rates and overall length as the original old rolls. In addition, rolls originally cut on Aeolian perforators during the ‘merger’ period can now be manufactured on Keystones Taft Pierce perforating machines thanks to the new motion control system designed by the author.

Three different punch-row spacings were tested and parameters were adjusted in order to ‘dial-in’ the length of the finished roll. In every case, the final result was within one-sixteenth inch of the original roll. The rolls tested were 28 to 35 feet long. It is quite amazing to lay down the original roll over the recut on the floor of the long hallway and see every hole in perfect alignment from beginning to end! One must remember, old rolls DO shrink over the ages. Environmental exposure, paper quality and the age of a particular roll are all factors in determining how much a given roll will have shrunk. Therefore, it is not necessarily important to exactly match the length of the original roll. More importantly, the roll copies should be of the CORRECT length. When played at the marked tempo, the song should play to its end in the prescribed amount of time. Equally important is punching the correct hole size in order to maximize the strength of chain perforations. How many recutting houses are able to deliver on ALL of these requirements?

In keeping with the traditions established by Charles Stoddard and Clarence Hickman, the research and development that has gone into the achievement of the above-mentioned accomplishments has been done at great expense by the principals of the Keystone Music Roll Company.

  On Monday, Frank Thompson and I visited the John Zeiner piano shop to see how the 1926 Chickering restoration is progressing. Enjoy the photos! Completion could be as soon as mid summer. Some new leather arrived for the restoration of the pneumatic components and we have restocked on paper for the perforators.