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OFFICERS

AMICA PRESIDENT

Frank Loob219 Montecito BoulevardNapa, Califomia

AMICA VICE-PRESIDENT

George Coade3196 Falcon DriveCarlsbad, California

AMICA SECRETARY

William Reed2833 Enea WayAntioch, Califomia

AMICA BULLETIN

Hester Zimmerman, Publisher3550 Ridgebriar Dr.Dallas, Texas

NEW MEMBERSHIP AND MAILING PROBLEMS

Tom Meeder494 Stanford PlaceSanta Barbara, California

MEMBERSHIP DUES AND TREASURY

Bob and Barbara Whitely175 ReservoirSan Rafael, Califomia

AMICA AUCTION

Gar Britten, Auctioneer642 Diamond StreetSan Francisco, Califomia

THE AMICA NEWS BULLETIN

Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors'Association, a non-profit club devoted to the restoration,distribution and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforatedpaper music rolls.

Contributions: All subjects of interest to readers of the bulletinare encouraged and invited by the publisher. All articles must bereceived by the 15th of the preceding month. Every attempt will bemade to publish all articles of general interest to AMICA membersat the earliest possible time and at the discretion of the publisher.

Advertisements: Personal ads by members are accepted andinserted in the Bulletin B08rd section at a rate of 5¢ per word, $1.00minimum. Businesses and persons wishing more space may use thefollowing guidelines:

- Advertising rate is $10 per quarter page or multiple thereof.

- Camera-ready copy must reach the publisher by the 15th ofthe preceding month.

- We will be happy to have your ad tYpeset and layoutperformed at a slight extra charge.

- All ads will appear on the last pages of the Bulletin, at thediscretion of the publisher.

Publication of bu_.... advertising in no way i"""ies AMICA'sendorsement of my commen:illl operation. However, AMICAreserves the right to refuse any ad that is not in keeping withAMICA's general standards or if complaints are received indicatingthat said business does not serve the best interests of the membersof AMICA, according to its goals and by-laws.

REPORtJn(; the

SEeonn IntERnStlonSheOnVEntlOn

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Page Three

Cecil Dover had amused us with the reportof a dream in which he dreamed that duringthe bus-loading, a long line of Girl Scoutshad insisted on trying to board one of thebusses. When we left the hotel, mixed inwith our own chartered busses was a"stranger", loading, of all things, a troop ofBOY Scouts who had chosen that corner fortake-off for their weekend outingl

Our route took us along theHollywood Freeway, which is not really the"longest parking lot in the world"l It onlyfeels that way when you happen to be on itduring the daily "rush-hour". We werefortunately faced with no such problem,and arrived right on schedule at "SanSylmar" in the nearby community ofSylmar in the San Fernando Valley.

Photos by Sam Thompson

by Gene Dilthey

As the shadows lengthened overDowntown Los Angeles on the afternoon ofFriday, June 30th, the completelyrefurbished Victorian lobby of the HotelAlexandria livened as AMI CAns from 21states and 1 foreign country convened forthe Second International Convention.Registrants were greeted by Bobbie Mintz,our official hostess for convention activities.Bobbie was ably assisted by Ann Saul, AnitaNickels, and Evelyn and Tom Meeder.

Convention badges and packetscontaining the official program, a list of"Open Houses" and a roll auction catalogwere handed to each registrant. Tickets forthe two "Fun-bus Train" excusions wereissued to those who chose to accommodatethemselves of this service. The conventionbadge, in the form of an adaptation of ajumbo Ampico Roll label, served as theticket for all other activities.

Following registration, the Palm CourtRoom was opened for a general"get-acquainted" session. After a pleasantinterlude of "cocktails and chit-chat", abuffet supper featuring lasagne, salad, rolls,wine and coffee was served. SouthernCalifornia Chapter President Bill Mintzwelcomed the visiting conventioneers. Bill'swelcome was followed by a presentation ofthree short films: "Pianissimo", a verypsychedelic cartoon presentation featuringmusic from piano rolls, phonographs, andearly radios; an early Aeolian promotionalfilm featuring recording artist Phil Oman;and a delightful Tom and Jerry cartooncalled "The Cat Concerto" with the livelyand hilarious antics of Tom the cat, andJerry the mouse "hamming-up" a concertperformance of Liszt's "Second HungarianRhapsody".

The high point of the evening camewhen Tom Meeder introduced guest artistReginald Stewart. Mr. Stewart is a concert

pianist of great talent and consummateartistry. He is also a conductor of note andis presently "Artist-in-Residence" and Headof the Piano Department of Santa Barbara'sMusic Academy of the West. He was also arecording artist for Welte. In his concert forus, Mr. Stewart played an all-ehopinprogram which included "Nocturne inCit-minor" (posthumous); "Mazurka inA-minor", Opus 17 - No.4; three "Etudes"of Opus 25, No.1, No.2, and No.9;"Ballade in A-flat", Opus 47; "Impromptuin A-flat", Opus 29; "I mpromptu in Fit",Opus 36; "Waltz in A-flat", Opus 64 - No.3;and the theatric "Scherzo in B-minor, No.1" . This reporter cannot adequatelydescribe the beauty of Mr. Stewart'sperformance, which brought the evening toa close and gave the attending AMICAns a"'ong-to-be-remembered" evening.

Activities of Saturday, July 1st, beganwith a pleasant bacon and egg breakfast,again in the Palm Court Room at the hotel.Frank Loob, International President, gavethe welcoming address to the members. Wewere then very delightfully entertained byGuest Artist Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead.Unfortunately, we had not provided aDuo-Art at the hotel, so Ursula's intended"Comparison Concert" could not bepreformed. Being Ursula, however, shequickly "made-do" with a regular Ampicoroll of Godard's "Venetian Barcarolle"which she alternated with her own playingon Karl Peterson's Chickering Ampico "B".Moving to the Steinway, she then played herown compositions "Echo d'Amour" and"Sandman's Frolic". Both selections werevery warmly received, and we particularlyappreciated her easy adaptation to theunexpected "hitch". Following Ursu la'sconcert, the "Fun-bus" was announced, andthe conventioneers rushed to take theirplaces for the ride to the NethercuttCollection. (An interesting side-light: At oneof the pre-convention Committee meetings,

How, exactly, does one describe"Perfection Housed in a Marble Palace"?Mr. Nethercutt (who is really "Mr. MerleNorman Cosmetics") has assembled afantastic collection of automatic musicalinstruments and classic and antiqueautomobiles. To house this collection, hehas built a magnificent "office-museum".The collection had not previously beenshown, so our tour was truly a "PremierePerformance". The building, which is notyet completed, is six stories high, andwithout windows except on the top floor.We first assembled in the carpeted"half-basement" parking garage for awelcoming address by Mr. Nethercutt. Heexplai ned that he collects "large andexpensive things" (automobiles andOrchestrionsl, and that Mrs. Nethercuttcollects "small and expensive things"(antique watches and fine porcelainbric-a-brac, mostly pianos). He won us allwhen he added: "She has also given me themost priceless part of my collection, mytwo sons".

After Mr. Nethercutt's welcome, wewere divided into six more-or-Iess equalgroups for a tour of the building and thecollections. Each group was guided by aFriend or Collaborator in the preparation ofthe "museum", and was then taken to adifferent starting point for a tour of all partsof the collection, but in varying order.

Honored guest J. Lawrence Cook,chats with conventioneers in frontof the Coades' Piano House.

Page Four

Welte recording artist and concertpianist Reginald Stewart.

Returning outside, our group enteredthe building through great bronze doorsspecially cast on the premises for theentrance to the "Best of Show Room".(Everything at "San Sylmar", Mr.Nethercutt's name for the building, has aname related to its function. The name "SanSylmar" relates to "San Simeon", WilliamRandolph Hearst's fabulous castle near SanLuis Obispo, and, like it, is unique andequally fabulous.)

"Best Of Show" is a two-storyshowroom with Italian marble floors in twocolors and marble columns supporting alofty hand-decorated ceiling. The styling isstrictly "Renaissance". In it are displayed

After a stirring performance, UrsubDeitrich-Hollingshead receives abouquet of roses from Cecil Dover.

17 automobiles, each,of which has won a"Best Of Show" award at a "Concoursd'Elegance" or other Antique or ClassicAutomobile Show. Included in this displayare a 1912 Franklin Runabout; a 1923Avons-Voissin Victoria Phaeton (RudolfValentino's "Honeymoon Car"); a 1930Minerva Cabriolet; a 1930 Rolls-RoyceMarlborough Town Car (complete withmink rug in the tonneau); a 1934 PackardSport Phaeton with a body by LeBarron. Tomove the automobiles in and out of theroom, Mr. Nethercutt has had invented aspecial "jack" wh ich floats the cars on acushion of compressed-air. The cars arelifted completely off the floor, thuspreventing damage to the polished marble.

Adjacent to the "Best Of Show" is the"Restored Auto Storage Room" in which61 other automobiles making up the balanceof the car collection, along with a fantasticcollection of ornamental radiator andhub-caps, are on display. This roomconnects to the "Restoration Room", animmaculate workshop where six of thehappiest mechan ics I have ever met arecontinually at work on the restoration ofantique automobiles.

Back through the "Best Of Show"room, we ascended the semi-circular "GrandStairway", named for the fine Louis XVKnabe Ampico grand piano which occupiesa landing at the middle of the turn. On aplatform at the first curve of the stair is an1898 Tiffany grandfather clock in an ornate10-foot hand-carved walnut case. This clock,along with a 1720 eleven-foot-high Dutchclock with bells, suffered severe damage inthe 1971 earthquake which centered onS y Imar. The Tiffany clock-case wasshattered into more than 150 pieces.Painstaking restoration has repaired bothclocks so that only very close scrutinyreveals the damage.

On the mezzanine to which the "GrandStairway" leads, Mr. Nethercutt will havehis office. Here also are displayed moreantique ornamental radiator and hub capsfrom bygone days. Included in themezzanine display is a sterling silver shipcreated by the International Silver Companyfor exhibit at the 1914 Panama PacificInternational Exposition in San Francisco.The ship, approximately six feet long,carries as passengers symbolic figu resrepresenting Art, Industry, Commerce, etc.On this level also is a dining room withwindows overlooking the "Best Of Show"room. Here we were served lunch as Mr.Nethercutt's guests.

From the end of the mezzanine weclimbed the "Stairway To The Stars", aspiral stair featuring a mural consisting of anundulating treble-clef music staff on whichthe melody line of the song is painted. Thelyrics of the chorus appear in "sheet-music"fashion below the staff. At the top of thisstair a handsome pair of tall doors leads into"Cloud 99". (Cloud 1.Q0 is Heaven. "Cloud99" is certainly, to AMICAns anyway. thenext thing to it.)

Following the Closing Night ban­quet, Ruth Bingaman Smith playsselections by Debussy.

"Cloud 99" with its ankle-deep specialdesign carpet certainly deserves its namelJust inside the door is a tall and ornateFrench style "Link" display case containingantique watches from Mrs. Nethercutt'scollection. In the adjacent corridor a largerbut similar case shows some of theminiature porcelain pianos. In the center ofthe room a square "pit" contains a 3-manualWurlitzer Hope-Jones Theatre OrganConsole. (Roger Morrison, Curator of theCollection, tells me that eventually a4-manual version of this console will occupythe pit, and the present console will bemoved to the "Cameo Theatre" above.) TheConsole is one of the controls for theWurlitzer Style 260 Special, Modified,Modified pipe organ. The organ pipes are

Guest arti st Dr. Robert Armbrusterautographs a program for SallyLawrence.

displayed in two glass-fronted organchambers, and can be watched in operation.The first modification permits t~e organ toalso be operated from any com~ination ofthe "organ-roll consoles" in a far corner ofthe room. These include an E. R. Moeller3-manual and 4-manual Roll Player, aWurlitzer Style "R" roll player, a single rolland multiple roll Aeolian Organ Roll Player,a single and multiple roll Welte Concerto la,a Wurlitzer Concert Organ Roll Player, and aspecial "Remote Stop Setter" which willoverride the rolls and change the organ stopsat the pleasure of the "live operator". Thislast piece of equipment was specially builtfor this particular installation. The secondmodification is a digital recorder built forMr. Nethercutt by Peterson Electronics ofChicago, which will record any "liveperformance" by an artist at the Hope-JonesConsole, and wi II then "reperform", stopsand all, through the organ itself (notspeakers), by means of an electronic tape.(The computer room behind the organchambers looks like a miniature "SpaceControl Center" out of Houstonl) Betweenthe two "organ chambers" and almostdominating the room (no easy feat) is thegigantic Hupfeld Excelsior Pan Orchestra.This magnificent machine is pictured onpage 456 of Q. David Bowers' new"Encyclopedia of Automatic MusicalInstruments" for those of you who haveaccess to it. Needless to say, it performsperfectly, as was demonstrated for us byRoger Morrison, who acted as host in"Cloud 99" during our tour. In separatealcoves on each side of the room are sixother magnificently restored Orchestrionsincluding a Mortier 86-note, Style 41,operated by "card-board music"; a Popper"Gladiator"; a Wurlitzer, Style 32; aWurlitzer, style 40; a Weber "Maesto"; and a

Gar Britten, from his high perch,starts the roll auction, as DickReutlinger keeps records.

Alf Werolin receives the foundingchapter plaque from Frank Loob.

Phillips "Paganinni". Also in this room is an1898, 9'2" Ehrbar Concert Grand Pianowhich formerly belonged to the EmperorFranz Josef of Austria. This piano has amagnificently decorated ebony case, and isoperated by an ebony-cased Hupfeld-DEAvorsetzer. There is also a very elegantRenaissance-cased Steinway "B" ConcertGrand- with a matching Welte vorsetzer.Both cases are gold-leafed with polychromeornament. The third piano is aMason·Hamlin Ampico "B" in afantastically canted walnut art-case. Thecase was carved in Italy, and cannot reallybe verbally described. On an oval dais at theend of "Cloud 99" opposite the HupfeldExcelsior Pan Orchestra is a formal diningroom in Louis XV style with custom-builtfurnishings. The marble topped serverfollows the curvature of the wall, and thetable is the same oval shape as the room.Adjacent to this is a complete kitchen forthe use of wh ichever caterer is engaged toprovide the dinner. The dining-dais standsthree steps above the floor level of "Cloud99" and is partially separated from it bybalustrades at either end with sculpturedfigures at the end of each balustrade. Theceiling is a mural in Rococo stylerepresenting Celestial Clouds with classicdraped figures, four of whom are theNethercutt family.

Directly above "Cloud 99" is the"Cameo Theatre", whose lobby is decoratedwit h fine sculptures and a Tiffanystained-glass window depicting the "Landingof Columbus". The theatre is permanentlyfurnished with about 50 luxurious loge seatswith room in front for several dozen chairs.It is equipped to show all film sizes from8mm "Home movies" to 70mm"Panavision". The ornamentation is in the"Classic Movie Palace" idiom withsculptures in niches at either side of theproscenium arch. The large orchestra pitcontains another Wurlitzer Hope-JonesOrgan Console (which operates the organ in"Cloud 99" below and, by means of sound

Page Five

passages, can be heard here as weill, and aSeeburg Style "R" Motion Picture Player.

Adjacent to the "Cameo Theatre" isthe "Collection Room" where a large andbeautiful display of music boxes,automatons, phonographs, orchestrions andpianos will eventually share space with theroll library. Included in this portion of thecollection are a Hupfeld Phono-Liszt, anAeolian Orchestrelle, and at least one ofeach type of reproducing piano system.Among other things, we were shown aSteinway "OR" Duo-Art grand in agorgeous Chinese Chippendale art case, anEllington Artrio-Angelus reproducing grand,an Apollo 6'2" grand with an ApolloReproducer in a Jacobean art case, aSteinway grand with a Welte-Licenseereproducer, a Chickering grand with aStoddard/Ampico reproducer, a SteinwayDuo-Art upright, and a Broadwood uprightwith an Ampico Reproducer. Also in thisroom was the 9' Steinway Duo-Art grand ina gilded art case recently acquired by Mr.Nethercutt and presently being restored. (Itis this reporter's guess that eventually thispiano will take its place with the otherfabulous instruments in "Cloud 99".)

The top floor of "San Sylmar" is stillincomplete and was not exhibited. Whenfinished, it will house an apartment for Mr.and Mrs. Nethercutt and another for RogerMorrison, their curator.

Finally at four o'clock in the afternoonwe returned to the ground floor to boardour busses for a tired, but happy, return tothe Alexandria Hotel.

The only planned activity for theevening was the "Open House" at JonLawson and Don Plageman's home inMonterey Park, reserved for out-of-townAMICAns only. The rest of us broke intosmall groups for various activities.

Sunday, July 2, began with acontinental breakfast in the Palm CourtRoom, followed by "personal delivery" ofthe July issue of the Bulletin by Ginny

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Mel Shores places the winning bidfor an original Welte roll as DickBames and Doug McGee look on.

Page Six

Dr. Sam Coade prepares to cut a demonstration roll of"Entrance of the Gladiators" for his orchestrion.

These perfectly restored music boxes are only a smallpart of the fabulous Nethercutt collection at San Sylmar.

Billings and Gar Britten for those memberswho could remember their ZIP codes. Wethen boarded our busses for the sixty-oddmile trip to Carlsbad, California, to visit theCoade Collection.

Dr. George and Susie Coade havegathered together a very select collection ofpianos and Orchestrions which have beencarefully restored and give beautifulperformances. The collection is housed in aspecially-built "piano house" adjacent totheir home, and, unlike the other collectionswe saw, is regularly on display by specialarrangement. The collection includes aSeeburg "Greyhound Piano", formerly inthe "Cliff-House" in San Francisco, aSeeburg "KT" (Eagle), a Seeburg"KT-Special", a Mills Violano-Virtuoso, aSeeburg "G" Art-style Orchestrion, aPhillips "Paganinni" violin-piano, aStei nway-Aeolian Duo-Art reproducingpiano, a Fischer Ampico reproducing piano,a Wurlitzer Style 30-A MandolinPianorchestra, a Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina,and a magnificent Weber Maesto. All ofthese instruments were demonstrated to thepleasure and satisfaction of everyonepresent. Dr. George has also recentlyacquired a roll'perforator for orchestrionrolls, and this was demonstrated for us. Welater heard a performance of "E ntry of theGladiators" played by the Maesto from aroll we had watched being cut. After a"too-short" two hours we climbed back onour busses for a pleasant trip back up thecoast to Bel-Air to see the VaughnCollection. En route we enjoyed a"box-lunch" which had been prepared bythe hotel kitchen and sent along. Afterlunch we variously talked, snoozed, sang, orjust enjoyed the scenery through the buswindow.

At the Vaughn's we were warmlywelcomed to a very literal "open-house"visit. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn have notpreviously shown their collection publicly,but they very graciously permitted us to see

not only their automatic musicalinstruments and classic cars, but also theentire house - upstairs and down, inside andout. As a native Californian, I wasparticu larly pleased because our receptionwas a perfect example of what I think of as"California Hospitality". The residence inEnglish country-house style is beautifullydesigned and authentically furnished inkeeping with the period. In the handsomeliving room we heard their fine KnabeAmpico "A" grand piano. The piano is in aLouis XV art-case. In the adjacent MusicRoom we were allowed to play anyinstrument, with only one understandableadmonition from Mr. Vaughn: "Only one ata time, please". Nickels for operation werevery thoughtfully provided in bowls at theslot of each coin-operated machine. (Coinslots were not removed in restoration if theywere part of the original instrument.) TerryHathaway assisted our host by explainingthe instruments in the collection, whichincludes an "Othello" weight-driven barrelpiano, a "National" roll-changingN icke lodeon, a "Seeburg Style H"Orchestrion, a "Wurlitzer" Nickelodeonwith bells, a 1902 "Mills Violano" in anunusual curved case, a "Pianolin"continuous-roll Orchestrion, a "WurlitzerEX" Orchestrion, a "Link" Flute-piano, a"Coinola CO" Orchestrion, a "Seeburg K"(Eagle) Nickelodeon with Xylophone, and a"Multiphone" cylinder-record slot machine.This last is truly the "grand-daddy" of the"juke-box" of the Thirties. The user, afterdepositing his coin, was required to windthe spring-driven motor before he couldstart the machine to play one of its 24recordsl Several music boxes, phonographs,and other smaller instruments are exhibitedon or near the table in the center of theroom. Mr. Vaughn is also a collector of rarePackard Automobiles, and the prize of hiscollection is a magnificently restored 1934Packard 12 Derham Sport Sedan. This is aone-of-a-kind automobile, and much of therestoration was done by Mr. Vaughn

himself. (His garage is another immaculatelykept work room, carefully arranged,beautifully "tooled", and a joy to behold!)Other fine cars in the collection are a 1929Packard Opera Coupe (designed to bechauffeur-drivenl, a 1935 Packard 12seven-passenger sedan, and a 1940 Packard160 Club Sedan. Following our pleasanttou r of the house and collections,refreshments were served in the charmingpatio~arden at the rear of the hou se. Allgood things must come to an end, so wereluctantly re-boarded our busses for thereturn to the Alexandria via a tourist's routealong the "Sunset Strip" and "HollywoodBoulevard", which was apparently verymuch enjoyed by our "out-of-town"convention guests.

Since no "planned dinner" was on theprogram, about 30 of the group joinedtogether for Chinese food at General Lee's"Man Jen Low Restaurant" in nearby "NewChinatown". We then hurried back toheadquarters for the "Live Roll Auction"scheduled for the evening.

Gar Britten, AMICA InternationalAuctioneer, with the help of DickReutlinger, got the auction off to a greatstart and, with his expertise and amusingantics, carried it to a rollicking andsuccessful conclusion. As reported in theLos Angeles Times, "The auction was moregood-will than rare finds, since nobody wasabout to part with too great a treasure". Butsome sought-after rolls were offered, andeven the "dogs" found homes. At the end ofthe evening the only unsold rolls were agroup coded for use on the "Solo-elle".(Can anybody tell me exactly what a"Soloo8lle" is? The rolls sounded awful onmy Ampico when I checked them forcondition II

On Monday, July 3rd, following acontinental breakfast in the Palm CourtRoom, those interested moved to the King

Edward Room for the technical sessions.These were conducted, as at the FirstInternational Convention, by Dave Saul.The sessions were well attended, andpresented a greater scope of informationthan anything previously offered. Dave Sauldiscussed and explained general techniquesand tools as well as adjustment of theDuo-Art. Bob Billings held forth on theRecordo. The meetings were recessed forlunch, again in the Palm Court Room.

Following the luncheon, we wereentertained by the amusing stories of "Mr.Player Piano Roll", Guest Artist J.Lawrence Cook. Mr. Cook told of his careerin the heyday of player piano rollproduction at QRS, of his association withMax Kortlander, Thomas "Fats" Waller, andother greats of the period, and of how hechanged from "Recording Artist" to"Production Manager" for QRS when timesgot rough. He recounted the various kindsof music rolls for which he arranged thescore and cut the masters. Mr. Cookestimates that in the course of his career,and including Orchestrion and Nickelodeonrolls, he has been responsible for more than30,000 recordings, and he is STI LL AT ITI

Technical sessions resumed in the KingEdward Room with John Patten discussingand explaining the Ampico. The audience,to quote Dave, "Asked about a millionquestions during both the sessions and the'Question and Answer' period. They wouldhave probably gone on and on if we hadn'thad to give up the room for theInternational Business Meeting".

At the business meeting conducted byInternational President, Frank Loob, reportswere heard from the International Officers.The International Secretary's Minutes willundoubtedly appear elsewhere in this issueof the Bulletin. The slate of candidates forthe election of officers was presented and,since each candidate ran unopposed, allwere elected by a voice vote. Other businesswas then discussed, but, at that point, thisreporter was called to the telephone and wasnot able to return to the meeting.

At seven-thirty in the evening wegathered again in the Palm Court Room forthe final banquet and entertainment. Therewas a short cocktail hour before we enjoyeda dinner of salad, beef tenderloin withvegetables, rolls and butter. Wine was servedwith dinner, followed by a dessert ofCherries Jubilee, and coffee. Table favorsincluded, for each member, a stereo recordof "Selections from Olde Tyme MusicalMuseum" in Orlando, Florida, a gift fromMr. G. W. McKinnon of "Automatic MusicalInstruments"; and a miniature souvenirIIPiano Roll" commemorating theconvention, made and contributed byBlanche Dilthey.

After dinner Frank Loob presentedCharter Certificates in the form of plaquesto Alf Werolin for the Founding Chapter,Bill Mintz for the Southern CaliforniaChapter, and to Steve Chapman for the

Texas Chapter. Frank then presentedCertificates of Service and Thank You tothe retiring International Board Members.Sally Lawrence, International Secretary,presented a very handsome silver ice bucketto Convention Chairman Cecil Dover. Cecilintroduced the various subcommitteechairmen, after which he raffled the doorprizes which had been contributed byvarious members. He was aided (and attimes hampered) by Blanche Dilthey, whodrew the tickets from the raffle drum. Itwas a hilarious performance by both ofthem. The evening's planned entertainmentopened with a fascinating "dance" by twolive and very effective "automatons" (SueKitch and Janet Schimke of Brea,California), who performed very charminglyto music from a large music-box from thecollection of Q. David Bowers.

Cecil then introduced Guest ArtistRuth Bingaman Smith. (Ruth doesn't reallyneed an introduction to AMICAns; we allknow and love her for her activities in theclub.) Ruth presented us with a perfectlydelightful offering of music by Debussy andChopin. Her selections were: IIPoissons d'Or(Goldfish); "Reflets dans l'Eau"(Reflections in the Water); "La Fille auxCheveux de Lin" (The Girl with the FlaxenHair); and IIJardins sous la Pluie" (Gardensin the Rain); all by Debussy. She thenplayed "Nocturne in C#-minor", Opus 27 ­No 1; and IIBaliade in G-minor", both byChopin. In response to our warm andexcited applause, Ruth then gave us anencore: "'Playera" by Granados.

After another brief appearance of our"automatons", Susie Coade introduced ourfifth guest artist, Mr. Robert Armbruster.Mr. Armbruster also doesn't need anintroduction to any of us. His career hasincluded so many facets of music that wehave all known of him in one connection oranother. Of course, Duo-Art owners havethe opportunity of hearing him more oftenbecause of his many recordings for Aeolianwhich are available for the Duo-Art only.Mr. Armbruster gave us a brilliantperformance of not too fami liar, but verybeautiful, compositions by Frenchcomposers. He played "Baigneuses auSoliel" (Lady Bathers in the Sun) by deSeverac; "Carillon" (Bells) by Liapounow;and "Pastourelle" by Poulenc. For hisclosing offering, Mr. Armbruster playedChopin's "Impromptu in F#-major" withsuch beauty as to earn a long, loud, (andstanding) ovation.

And so the Second InternationalConvention of AMICA passed into fondmemory. But wait, it wasn't quite overt OnTuesday, July 4th, five hospitable SouthernCalifornians threw open their homes for"Open House" visits to permit"Conventioneers" an informal chance to seesome of the most outstanding privatecollections in the area. "At Home" wereDave and Mary Bowers in Beverly Hills,Jerry and Sylvia Cohen in Studio City, Jerryand Virginia Doring in Arcadia, Phil andAlma Hill in Santa Monica, and Anita

Page Seven

Nickels in Fullerton. Unfortunately, thelocales were too widely scattered to permitvisits to all the homes by anyone person orgroup. Blanche and I had the pleasure ofescorting Ursula Dietrich-Hollinshead to thePhil Hill's in Santa Monica where we alsosaw guest artists Ruth Bingaman Smith and,"J. Lawrence Cook. Since Alma and'''PhU'scollection includes a magnificent SteihwayDuo-Art, Ursula was able to treat us to thecomparison concert that could not be doneat the hotel. She played "VenetianBarcarolle" by Godard; Mokjres IIValcik";and her own compositions, "'Echod'Amour" and "'Ecstacy". These wereperformed in conjunction with the speciallyprepared rolls, made for her use by Aeolianwhen she toured for them giving concerts inwhich she alternated her "i'ive" playing withthe recorded performance of the Duo-Art.At everyone's request, she repeated her"Sandman's Frolic". It is hoped':-that J.Lawrence Cook may be able t9pr~pare apiano roll of "Sandman's FroUe", for "QRS.

Ruth Bingaman Smith also'gave us animpromptu concert on Phil's Mason-Hamlin.We were delighted to hear "Viennese Waltz"by Gaertner-F riedillan, Moszkowski's"Etude in F-major", Chopin's "Etude inF-minor" and finally her own delightfulsermonette, "Be Thankful", which she sangf or us as she played her ownaccompaniment.

After Phil's open house, we squeezedin a ~hort visit to Disneyland with Ursulaand eventually we found our way to AnitaNickels', where we helped Anita and herother guests to really bring the conventionto a close.

As for me, it has taken this long toreally come back down to earth and file thisreportl BUT IT WAS FUNIlII

Page Eight

AMICA OPEN HOUSES-AMICA OPEN HOUSES-

The Southern California AMICA members listed below have consented to having walk-through informal"'open houses" during the specific times indicated. These open houses will give convention attendees achance to see a number of the most outstanding private collections in Southern California - homes andcollections not generally available to the public. These visits are informal, and no food or beverages will beserved.

AMICA thanks the following members for putting a nice "finishing touch" on the convention. Plan toattend as many of these open houses as you can - it is a rare, rare opportunity!

Solophonola

Weber

Reproduco

ANITA NICKELS-Tues., july 4, 4-9 p.rn.-

Location: 1054 La Mesa, Fullerton. Telephone (714)526-2674.

Anita Nickels, world traveler and MlICA committee mem­ber, invites you to visit her lovely home to see and hear her finecollection. Featured items include a Chickering lVlodel AAmpico reproducing grand piano, an ornate Regina automaticdisc-changing music box featuring the large 27" diameter discs,a Seeburg Style L cabinet-style nickelodeon piano from the:~went~es,,,an interesting array of music boxes - and other

goodIes.

j ON LAWSON and DON PLAGMANN-Sat., july 1, 7-10 p.rn.-

Location: 1560 Rolling Hills Drive; Monterey Park. Tele­phone (213) 263-5484.

Jon Lawson and Don Plagmann invite AMICA members(out-of-town members only, please, for this evening - as localmembers have had and will have opportunities at other times)to see their lovely collection. Featured are a Haines BrothersAmpico lVlodel A reproducing piano, a snappy Seeburg A-rollkeyboard-style nickelodeon, a Tangley Model CA-43 calliope,many music boxes - and other interesting and nostalgic items.

JERRY AND SYLVIA COHEN-Tues., july 4,12 noon to 3 p.rn.-

Location: 11756 Canton Place, Studio City. Telephone(213) 877-7378.

Jerry and Sylvia Cohen invite you to visit their magnificentprivate collection - a display which must surely rank as one ofthe finest collections in existence today. A treat awaits you.lVlusic is provided by many instruments, including a HupfeldHelios Ic/31 orchestrion, DeLuxe Violano-Virtuoso, WesternElectric "Derby," Encore Banjo, Wurlitzer LX, CremonaOrchestral K, Weber Styria, Coinola X, Reproduco - anddozens more!

PHIL AND ALMA HILL- Tues., July 4, 10 a.m. - 2 p.rn.-

Location: 266 20th St., Santa Monica. (213) 395-6974.Phil Hill, internationally-known race car driver, and his

lovely wife Alma invite you to see and hear the superblyrestored instruments in thf~ir collection. Pearls in the exhibitinclude a Knabe Ampieo lVlodel B in an art-style case, aSteinway Duo-Art (fonnerly owned by Max Kortlander), theunique cabinet-style keyboardless Chickering Ampico, a Vio­lano-Virtuoso, a rare Edelweiss music box of large diameter,and many, many other interesting things - including somebeautiful classic cars.

JERRY AND VIRGINIA DORING-Tues., july 4, 9-12 a.rn.-

Location: 2727 Loganrita Avenue, Arcadia. Telephone(213) 447-6306.

Jerry and Virginia Doring host your visit to their beautifulcollection - a group which includes many of the mostdesirable items in the coin piano and orchestrion field. You'llsee and hear a magnificent Weber Otero orchestrion with themost dazzling automatic light effects we've ever seen, the rarePeerless Arcadian (in special case), a National 8-station changerpiano, a DeLuxe Violano-Virtuoso, a Wurlitzer AutomaticHarp, a ~lortier dance organ, and quite a few other interestingthings.

DAVE AND MARY BOWERS- Tues., july 4, 9 a.m. to noon-

Location: 1113 Wallace Ridge, Trousdale Estates, BeverlyHills. Tel. (213) 276-5821.

Dave and lVlary Bowers invite you to their hilltop home tosee and hear their private collection - including a SeeburgStyle H Solo Orchestrion, Mason & Hamlin Ampico Model B,Seeburg G Orchestrion, Western Electric "Derby," WeberMaesto concert orchestrion, Regina 20%" changer, Mira musicbox, Mermod cylinder box, etc. Note: Please park on WallaceRidge and walk up driveway to end (do not drive updriveway). Turn right at end of driveway and go through irongate.

CONVENTION LI FEby Sally lawrence

The Alexandria Hotel was ready as thePalm Court doors opened to start thesecond AMICA convention. Old and newfriends greeted one another beneath themagnificent stained glass ceiling during ano-host cocktail hour.

Members were treated after supper to amovie called PIANISSIMO. Gales oflaughter were heard as a piano andphonograph grabbed colors from the musicuntil each one was covered by color anddesign. A cartoon followed about a cattrying to give a concert in the piano homeof the mouse. The mouse upstaged the cat,to everyone's pleasure.

The highlight of the evening wasReginald Stewart's playing an all Chopinconcert for AMI CAns. A thunderingstanding ovation climaxed our first evening.

The next morning we were up forbreakfast in the Palm Court and weretreated to a comparison concert by UrsulaDietrick-Hollingshead. Ursula brought therolls with her and did a fine job. RuthBingaman Smith then gave a shortperformance.

We were off on our first bus ride toSan Sylmar for a day with the Nethercutts.Mr. Nethercutt divided us into eight groupsand introduced each group to its hosts forthe day. We had an escorted tour of SanSylmar, including the antique cars, musicalcollection, theater, dining room and library.The Nethercutts kindly provided us withlunch. The fabulous collections were all thatwe had heard about and more. AMICAnsboarded their buses for the return trip for afree evening.

AMICAns were up fairly fate that nightand the sleepy eyes arrived for breakfast inthe morning. All were looking forward tothe visit with the Coades in Carlsbad. Manyspent the two hour bus ride in peacefulrepose getting forty winks. They perked upwhen they arrived; Suzie and Georgeshowed us their instruments and perforator.The perforator makes rolls for the WeberMaesto. The Coades served lightrefreshments and, all too soon, it was timeto bus to the Vaughns. We all grabbed ourdrinks out of plastic cans filled with ice onthe lawn, searched for our box lunches onthe bus racks and settled down for lu nchand the ride. AMI CAns were back to theirusual gabby selves. Some members collectedoranges not used at lunch for later thatevening.

Arriving at the Vaughns, peoplescrambled out of buses to see thewonderfully restored Packards andinstruments. There was a light breeze on thepatio with punch available for AMI CAns.We received the sign that it was time to goto the hotel. Back on the buses we had atour of Hollywood and environs and then

on to the Alexandria, where we gathered upbelongings and said farewell to our busdrivers, who had been terrific.

We grabbed a quick bite, as the rollaLiction was to begin at eight o'clock. GarBritten got everyone's attention and theauction started. Biddi ng was fast andfurious, friend bidding against friend, theroll finally won by the lucky one. Peoplegot so engrossed in piano talk that, on a fewoccasions, they missed the roll by losingtrack of the number Gar was on. Better lucknext time if you missed your favorite roll.

By now some of the SouthernCalifornia chapter decided that the place tobe was the hotel, and had either moved in orwere in the process of moving in. Theparties went on to the wee hours of thenight, with everyone exchanginginformation furiously. The next morningthere were those who missed breakfast andsome who missed lunch, but the Palm Courtgot crowded after lunch. There wasexcitement: J. Lawrence Cook was toappear. AMICAns at the technical sessionscame down and a hush came over all. Mr.Cook told us how he happened to get intothis crazy business, and of the years he hadworked for QRS. There was time forquestions and answers.

There was another technical sessionand a business meeting that afternoon.Some AMICAns took the time to do morerecovering and, by doing so, missed finetechnical sessions.

We were then off to dress for the bignight. Sport clothes vanished and out camethe dresses and suits. The Palm Court cameforth in a new dress of white table clothsand red, white and blue flowers and candles.We all went to our assigned tables. Thebanquet was served with all the trimmings,with wine and cherries jubilee dessert.

Awards were presented for meritoriousservice to the outgoing board members;charters to the chapters and foundingmembers were honored with a certificate.Cecil Dover and Mrs. Dilthey gave out doorprizes.

The evening program was started bytwo young ladies dancing like automatonsto music from a cylinder music box. RuthBingaman Smith was introduced and playeda Debussy group and some Chopin pieces.The standing ovation showed how much weall love her and appreciate her talent. Shewas presented with long-stemmed red roses.

Ursula was called to the stage toreceive a bouquet. She said that it waswonderful to be eighty-six - just look whatyou got.

Robert Armbruster was introduced andplayed a group of numbers to introduce usto some composers that were not so wellknown. We all urged him to play more buthe hold us that this was the entire numberof pieces he knew.

Page Nine

I t was a great evening of fabulousmusic by noble artists. The group slowlywandered out not wanting to leave what hadbeen a magical four days of happy reunionsand new-found friends, music from artistand instruments, and an exchange ofinformation at technical sessions as well asfrom one another.

The next day there were several openhouses for those having the time and energy.We are all looking forward to the nextconvention when we can all be togetheragain. For a job well done, our hats are offto you in Los Angeles.

Page Ten

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER ENJOYS A NOSTALGIC DAY AT JUNE MEETING

by Gene Dilthey

The June meeting of the SouthernCalifornia Chapter was delightfully hostedby Sid Kastner and Gary Taplin of the"Bandstand" in downtown Los Angeles.

The Bandstand is a fascinatingcombination of "Antique Shop" and"Museum" reflecting the "better-life" in theearly years of the century.

For more than two hours SouthernCalifornia AMICAns enjoyed wanderingamong the exhibits in both the "Shop and"Museum" sections of the establishment asthey sipped their choice of beverages fromthe two huge punch bowls provided by ourhosts. There was "pink punch" fortee-totalers and children. and a "vigorousorange" for those older or not so inhibited.

Originally, Mr. Kastner, who isChairman-<lf-the-Board of United BusinessInteriors, became interested in the glasstelegraph wire insulators that were a vitalpart of early telegraph installations. Thisinterest has expanded into a fabulouscollection of "turn-of-the-century"memorabilia which occupies a large spaceadjacent to the UBI showrooms. Thecollection has been carefully restored and ismaintained by Gary Taplin, MuseumCurator.

Space does not permit a fulldescription of the collection (As a matter offact, I'm certain that in the time we werethere I didn't even see all of itll, but someof the highlights' were performances On amagnificently performing Style 148Wurlitzer Military Band Organ, which wasfound in a Canadian skating rink. Analternate popular performer was the SeeburgCremona Nickelodeon. One or the other ofthese instruments was performing most ofthe afternoon. We also heard numerousphonographs, both cylinder and disk types,and music boxes of all types. This reporterwas particularly impressed with a Columbia

Concert Gramophone with a six-foot-Iong"horn", which, it was noted, was used inlarge auditoriums because of its greatvolume.

The collection is not limited to musicalinstruments, and included in the "shop" wasone of the cars from the old "Angel'sFlight" which once carried shoppers fromThird and Hill Streets to their homes on topof Bunker Hill. Urban renewal hasdemolished the old funicular railroad, andall but leveled Bunker Hill. Fortunately, anew "Heritage Square" now being built hasoffered refuge for several of the moreinteresting houses from this once fineresidential area, and there is some talk ofrebuilding "Angel's Flight",

Next door to the shop in the"Museum" portion of the Bandstand is Mr.Kastner's permanent collection, whichincludes a fine Mills Violano Virtuoso, a1910 MuItiphone "wi nd-it-yourself"cylinder playing juke box with 24selections, a 1906 Duplex phonographwhich "plays double volume and sweetertone" with two horns from a single needlearm. A 1916 "floor lamp phonograph"conceals its turntable in the top of the basepedestal. Its horn sends music "ceilingward"through the top of the lamp shade. Thisinstrument originally sold for $18.00. Itsvalue today is over $1,500.00.

Two other fascinating exhibits must bedescribed. One is a circa 1880 barber shop,complete with walnut barber chairs,customers' personal shaving-mug rack, towelsterilizer and spitoons. The other is a model"turn-<lf-the-century" town with animatedcitizens and over 5,000 moving parts. Onmain street the Chinese laundryman irons ashirt, the blacksmith hammers on his anvil,the corner gas station attendant"hand-pumps" gas into a car while a smalldog does his "duty" at the nearby fire plug.At the opposite corner, the Sexton tolls the

Church bell to welcome a bride and groom.In the park, the bandmaster directs the bandin perfect rhythm with the arm of a painteron a ladder "redecorating" a nearby house.

There is much, much more to see, butsince times does and we must march on, weregretfully pulled ourselves away toreassemble for a "do-it-yourself" sandwichsupper at the Bradbury Building severalblocks away.

The Bradbury Building is a grand oldbit of "Early Los Angeles" that nearly fellto the bulldozers. When completed in 1893,this building was hailed as (and is stillconsidered) a masterpiece of thearchitectural elegance of the day. Thebuilding is now being restored to its originalcondition and may again become a desirableaddress in the city. By special arrangement,AMICAns were permitted to roam over theentire building and enjoy the fantastic effectof the central court with its hugh skylightfive stories above and the lacywrought-iron-railed balconies which serve as"hallways" at each floor level. Duringsupper at the Parlor Restaurant in thebuilding, President Bill Mintz announcedthat among the guest artists at theConvention would be J. Lawrence Cook,Mr. Cook produced many "favorite" pianorolls of my youth, and his name appearsoften in the QRS list. Now in his 80s, Mr.Cook is still recording, and we are delightedthat he can be with us.

Our bandstand host gave us the finalunusual feature of this meeting. He provideda number of recordings of the performanceof his Wurlitzer Military Band Organ, and a"penny-gum-ball" machine !the kind Iremember as a boy). These were raffled offas the last item of the agenda, and weadjourned to travel home in a pink-tingedcloud of remembrances.

LEOPOLD GODOWSKY - PART 1

by Dennis E. Ferrara

Collectors are fortunate indeed to have a chance tocollect such a varied record ing artist as LeopoldGodowsky.

Godowsky, nick-named "The Buddha", was one ofthe greatest piano technicians to live in our century. Asa great pianist and teacher, he was in demand to recordfor the various reproducing piano companies such asAMPICO, DUO-ART, WELTE and numerous others. Healso left for posterity a wealth of great acoustical andelectrical phonograph record ings.

We shall look at his acoustical recording career inthis article. Part two will examine his electricalrecordings made between the years 1925-1930.

Leopold Godowsky was born in Soshly, near Vilna,Poland, February 13, 1870. At the early age of 14, hewas sent to Berlin to study at the Hochschule fur Musik.Godowsky made his American debut in 1884 with thefamous American soprano, Clara Louise Kellogg. Hereturned to Europe and studied for a short time withCamille Saint-Saens (1887-1890). One amazing fact isthat Godowsky was virtually self-taught. Saint-Saens isthe only name connected with the great pianist.Godowsky developed a unique style and method ofplaying the piano called "weight and relaxation" whichconsisted of extending the total potentialities of pianotechniques to the utmost; Godowsky paid particularattention to the left hand.

He retu rned to America in 1890 and becameDirector in the Music Department at New York Collegeof Music; in 1894, he taught at the Ch icagoConservatory of Music. He returned to Berlin in 1900and "conquered" that city. The recital included: Thefirst movement of the Brahms B flat Concerto, followedby the second and third movements; Study for the LeftHand alone, Opus 25, number 4 (A Minor); StudiesOpus 10, number 11; and Opus 25, number 3, number 8(sixths), number 5 (mazurka); Opus 10, number 4,Badinage; Opus 10, number 5 in G flat; and the Weber"Invitation to the Waltz". Encores included the Scherzomovement from the Saint-Saens G Minor Concerto andthe "plain" Black Key Study for the Left Hand.

It is rather interesting to observe that it seems thatGodowsky was rather established as a composer toinclude such a long series of his own paraphrases for thepiano at his Berl in debut. He was a true "virtuoso" andcomposed music to match his own brilliant techniques.His compositions include numerous transcriptions ofStrauss waltzes (a few pianists today such as Earl Wildhave recorded his Die Fledermaus and Artist Lifeparaphrases). Musicians have said that Godowsky wascomposing for a future generation; however, many feelthat the generation has not yet arrived. He took 53

Page Eleven

Left, Leopold Godowski in 7895, five years before his

Berlin debut. Right, in 7925 at the apex of his career.

etudes of Chopin and paraphrased them into extremelydifficult "exercises" for hand and pedal technique.Godowsky was well prepared to meet the arguments ofthe critics of the time. In a forward to the Sch lesingeredition he wrote:

"The fifty-three studies based ontwenty-six studies of Chopin havemanifold purposes. Their aim is todevelop the mechanical, technicaland musical possibil ities of pianoplaying, to expand the peculiarlyadapted nature of the instrument topolyphonic, poly rhythmic andpolydynamic work, and to widenthe range of its possibilities in tonecoloring."

Other compositions include paraphrases onSchubert, Rameau and Strauss. 46 Miniatures, twopianos, 4 hands -- the pupil is given a part within thecompass of five notes (1918); Music for the Left Hand(6 Waltzes, Poems, Prelude and Fugue); Triakontameron(30 pieces -- number 11 is rather well-known under thetitle, "Alt Wien"); Phonoramas (Javanese Cycle);Metamorphoses (3 symphonic works for piano);Renaissance (24 pieces); A Piano Sonata and Concerto;and 12 pieces for Violin.

Now to return to Godowsky and his life -- in 1891,he became an American citizen. In 1909, he becameDirector of the Master SchoOl of Piano Playing atVienna. In 1912-1913, he returned to the United Statesand toured with success. It is at this time that he signeda contract to record for the Columbia PhonographCompany located in New York.

It was also during 1912 that Godowsky edited the"Progressive Series of Piano Lessons". He remained herein the United States during the later teens and throughthe twenties. He was asked to record for the EnglishColumbia, a sister branch of the American Company, acomplete Chopin series of major works. It was duringone of these fantastic recording sessions that Godowskysuffered a stroke in 1930. The stroke affected his right

(Continued next page)

Page Twelve

hand and he stopped giving recitals and worked moredeeply on his left hand technique. He wrote an essay on"Piano Music for the Left Hand", and it was publishedby the Musical Quarterly, July, 1935.

The loss of his beloved wife deepened hiswithdrawal from the public. He suffered a fatal attackon November 21,1938.

He was a great pianist and teacher. The late JosefHofman said this of Godowsky, "Never forget what youheard tonight; never lose the memory of that sound.There is nothing like it in this world. It is tragic that thepublic has never heard "Popsy" as only he can play."Critics have said of him, "The 'superman' of thepiano...He was a pianist for pianists...There is nothinglike him to be found in the history of piano playingsince Chopin."

RECORD DISCOGRAPHY

The Art of Leopold Godowsky on phonographrecordings can be divided into two areas. First, theacoustical recordings made by him for the ColumbiaPhonograph Company, New York, (1912-1918).Recordings made by the horn and without microphoneand electronics are called by collectors, "acoustical".

The second area, a fine series of recordings madefor the Brunswick Phonograph Record Company(1920-1925). These recordings are far superior in tonalquality to many later electrical recordings made byother phonograph companies. I divide the electricalseries for both Columbia and Brunswick (1925-1930)into a separate catalogue.

There is also a separate listing for the unpublishedtitles; however, these discs are not available and arementioned only for completeness in such a discography.

Godowsky signed contracts with the ColumbiaCompany in early 1912. The recordings aredouble-faced and are twelve inches in diameter. Thecatalogue nUrTlbers will be fillowed by the-cataloguenumbers listed. The reason for the numbering is asfollows. It seems that in 1922, Columbia introduced abetter quality of record surface known as the"I mproved Surface". Before this, Columbias' wererather noisy and were sometimes off-centered. The newprocess improved both the sound and quality ofproduction. Sad to say, the Godowsky recordings weremade, for the most part, with the older record surfacesand there are many times when a beautiful performanceis spoiled by an extremely loud surface noise. I find theearly Columbias poor in record quality for its day. Pianotone is distant and faded. It seems that the Columbiaengineers were more interested in "capturing" theacoustics of a dead recording studio instead of thepiano.

A 5484 La Campanella (Paganini-LiszdHark, Hark the Lark (Schubert-Liszt)

A beautiful reading with much expression.The Columbia label reads, "Recorded at 80r.p.m." However, better piano tone is achievedat slowing down the turntable to 78 or 79 r.p.m.

It would be fun to compare his rolls onthese performances; however, a complete list ofrolls was lacking.

5485 Nocturne in E Flat (Chopin)Preludes in B flat; in F (Chopin)

f cannot comment on this disc becauseI have never heard it; no doubt a fine per­formance., Godowsky is one artist who nevermade a poor recording.

5550 Gnomenreigen (Liszt)Polona~se in A Flat (Chopin)

A thrilling disc of great virtuosoplaying. It is really a shame, however,that Godowsky never recorded any of hisown paraphrases or studies for the piano.Posterity now lacks some great performancesbecause the phonograph companies were onlyinterested in the "pot boiler" and compo­sitions which were over-played and "popular".

5597 Berceuse in 0 Flat, Opus 57 (Chopin)Waltz in G Flat (Chopin)

After listening to this disc, one canfully understand why Godowsky was called a"Great after Chopin". Beautiful phrasing.Beautifu I pedal coloring.

57917024M Gondoliera (Liszt); If I were a Bird (Henselt)

Waltz in A Flat (Chopin)

Three compositions performed in the"grand manner". It is interesting tocompare the acoustical version 'of "IfI Were a Bird" by Rachmaninoff withGodowsky's disc. A favorite Liszt disc.

5800 Concert Etude, No.2 in 0 Flat (Liszt)Nocturne in E Flat (Chopin)

Some great stuff here. Exciting musicand played in an exciting manner.Beautiful Chopin phrasing. Fine pedal color.

5858 Serenata (Moszkowski); Valse in E Minor (Chopin)Berceuse (Chopin)

One "pot boiler" among two little gems.A rather hard to find disc. Well worth thelooking. Beautiful phrasing. Tempos changedto meet the short recording time limit.

5896 Rigoletto Paraphrase (Liszt)Cradle Song (H enselt)

An interesting disc of the Verdi trans-cription of the Quartet from Rigoletto. Fineplaying.

Henselt was more of the salon school of19th century piano music and this little"bon-bon" seems to be very typical of hisschool. Charming but not very inspired.

6013 Etude in F, Op. 25 (Chopin); Arabesque inA Flat (Leschetizky)Serenade in 0 Minor (Rubinstein); Viennain F Waltz (Poldini)

The most interesting disc of the entireColumbia group and a disc which I have neverseen or heard. Can anyone help on this one?

BRUNSWICK RECORDINGS

The Brunswick group of recordings offers manynew titles and several "pot boilers". It is too bad thatBrunswick followed its competitors in having artistssuch as Godowsky record banal"trite"; however, if onecan judge by finding as many copies as I have found ofthe Brunswick Godowsky disc of the Melody in F(Rubinstein), then one can surmise that his recordingssold rather well. The Brunswick recordings are both 10and 12 inches in diameter. The 10000 series will be theone-sided 10-inch discs; the 15000 series will be the10-inch double-faced recordings; the 30000 series willbe the 12-inch one-sided discs and the 50000 series willlist the 12-inch double-faced recordings.

The Brunswick recordings (acoustical) wererecorded between 1920--1925. The company had beenformed as a cabinet maker for the Edison Company. In1918, after several arguments with Edison, the companydecided to issue its own vertical cut discs. In 1920, thecompany changed its recording process and used thestandard lateral system and obtained the recordingservices of many excellent operatic and instrumentalists,including Godowsky, Hofmann, Ney and others.

10022 15017 Rustle of Spring (Sinding)10027 Witches Dance (MacDowell)

Here we start the series of "potboilers". I t seems that everybody whowas an anybody recorded these two works.Charming as they are, still they wereplayed and recorded in excess. Count inany Piano Roll catalogue the above twotitles. A nice disc and Godowsky's per-formance of these "bon-bons" hasartistic mer it.

10031 15018 Waltz in C Sharp Minor (Chopin)10050 Melody in F (R ubinstein)

The same remarks can apply here;however, the Chopin waltz deserves thecomment of a true masterpiece in itstype. Many people will argue the ideathat it is a composers' "pot boiler"which is his master piece; I can thinkof several works of Rubinstein whichreflect his "touch" such as his PianoConcertos more than this "over baked"ditty. A particular work survives becauseit is popular and "pretty", not becauseit may be a masterpiece.

30004 50008 March Militaire (Schubert-Taussig)30017 Fantasie Impromptu (Chopin)

Two old time favorites and playedin fine spirits. Fine Chopin disc.The speed on all Brunswick discs shouldbe the standard 78 r.p.m.

30016 50009 Impromptu in A Flat (Chopin)30025 Kamennoi Ostrow (Rubinstein)

Beautiful Chopin reading. Sameremarks can apply here as above.

Page Thirteen

30019 50024 Liebestraum (Liszt)Polonaise hi A Flat (Chopin)

A fine disc and beautiful phrasing.Tempos are more interesting here thanon the earlier Columbia disc of theChopin work.

15001 15001 The Flatterer (Chaminade)Spring Song (Mendelssohn)

A nice disc of two "PB". SameComments apply here as in the beginningof the Brunswick discQgraphy.

15026 The "Butterfly" and "Black Keys" Etude(Chopin) Etudes, Ope 10, number 5, Opus25, number 9Prelude in C Sharp Minor (Rachmaninoff)

An excellent disc with some virtuosoplaying in the Chopin etudes. I haverather mixed opinions on the Rachmaninoff.Still prefer the composers Edison oracoustical or electrical versions to this.

15042 Maiden's Wish (Chopin)My Joys (Chopin-Liszt)

I have not heard this one andcannot make any comments. Can someoneagain help on this one?

15049 Capriccio in F Minor (Dohnanyi)A la Bien Aimee (Schutt)

A beautifuI disc and a great favoritein my Godowsky collection. A hard to finddisc; but it is well worth the trouble toto find it. Fine expression and pedal coloring.

15081 Music Box (Liadow)Playera (Granados)

A fine disc. Hard to find.

50015 Polonaise MUitaire, Ope 40, N. 1 (Chopin)Waltz in E Flat (Chopin)

A fine interpretation of Chopin.A "great..guide-to-follow-" disc.

50016 On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn-Liszt)Venezia e Napoli-Tarantella (Liszt)

An exciting Liszt disc and wellworth finding. A great guide-to-followtype recording.

50024 Ballade in A Flat (Chopin)Nocturne in 0 Flat (Chopin)

Beautiful phrasing and excellenttempos. A fine Chopin recording on anyacoustical or electrical recording.

(To be continued)

Advertise in the Bulletin. What betterway to reach all the collectors of import?

Page Fourteen

TONE REGULATING AND VOICING THE PIANOPART II

by James Aber

brighten with use, a customer who islooking for instant brightness may demandimmediate resu Its. Here a technician mayresort to removing some of the felt by filingand lay the nap with a watm iron.

The faces of the hammers must not becut or grooved from striking the strings.Sand-filing cut hammers is necessary, as theoriginal contour of the hammers must berestored. If the grooves in the hammers arefairly deep, the portion of the hammerscoming into contact with the strings will betoo flat and too long to bri ng out a decenttone. Also the grooves in a cut harnmercannot always mesh exactly with the strings,due to possible shifting in hammer attack.This is especially true in the case of theshifting action in most grand pianos, in softpedal operation. It would be impossible toshift to the soft pedal position and expectthe cut hammers to mesh perfectly. Usuallyunder such conditions many of the hammersstrike the strings, not in exact alignment,but so that the ridges on the hammers strikethe strings instead of the grooves, producinga metallic sound similar to the sound of aharpsicord.

Of course, there is a limit to thenumber of times hammers may besand-filed. The depth of felt on hammers isdesigned to graduate from a thin layer in thetreble, and increases to many times inthickness, as the hammers extend towardthe bass. Hammers that have been sand-filedmany times may have the felt .'educed tosuch thinness that they cannot be voiced,especially in the extreme treble, where thefelt may be cut through to the wood; andfurther down the scale the hammers maynot have enough body to bring out theresonance of the lower strings.

Voicing may not always meansoftening the tone that is produced whenthe hammers strike the strings. Sometimes atechnician may find the hammers have beenover needled by some tuner, who wasoverzealous in his efforts to cover a toobrilliant tone. It is fairly common practicefor tuners to use a voicing tool with three orfour needles. This is a great mistake.Hammers should be needled radially fromthe outside in. With multiple needles this isdifficu It, as the resistan.ce of the feltbecomes too great. So the operator resortsto pushing the needle through the nose ofthe hammer, at right angles to the axis ofthe hammer. Surely, he softens the hammer,but is apt to destroy th-e hammer's ability toever produce good tone again. Even the useof two needles in the tool is hazardous,because, in pushing the needles into the firmfelt, the flexibility of the needles of thepricker allows them to abort from theirparallel position in the tool, and anglethrough the felt to strain the texture to thepoint of disrupting the natural matting ofthe fibers.

There are bound to be spots in the feltbody of the hammer where there is moredensity than in other areas. This densitymay be reflected, when the note is being

struck, on possibly only one of the threestrings of a tri-chord note. Voicing shouldbe done, if the job is to be critical, by usingrubber mutes to block out all but one stringat a time, to enable the technician tocompare the sou nds of the two or threestrings of the note. With a single needle, hemay doctor a brash sounding string withoutsoftening a spot under the remaining strings,which may already be soft enough. Also,with a single needle it is possible toexperiment to find just how much needlingis necessary to' produce the desired sound.

In these days, when most hammersbeing manufactured are fortified by treatingthe felt with a solution of thin lacquer,collodion or other hardening fluid, carefuljudgment of the amount of using the needleis a must.

Right here, let us mention the dangerof an inexperienced voicer applying afortifying liquid to a hammer to increasebrilliance of a hammer, which may seem toomellow. Common sense tells us not to puttoo much near the point of the hammerwhere it contacts the string, as the glaze ofthe hardening fluid may render the toneunacceptably brassy. Also, it is well toremember that a hardening fluid, where itsoaks into the felt, will gradually increasethe firmness of the felt and, after a time,may cause an "over-kill" of the softness andgo beyond to a xylophone quality, whichmay be beyond control. A very lighttreatment of such a remedy should beallowed some time for appraisal of theeffect, before using more of the same kindof treatment.

Using a warm hammer iron to bring upthe brightness of tone in hammers that seemtoo subdued will sometimes do wonderstoward brightening the sound. The hammeriron should never be hot enough to sear thefelt, or brown the appearance of thehammer. It does not sound too professionalto put a dab of saliva from the mouth,applied with the finger on the point of thehammer, and then dried with a warm iron,but it is a very useful treatment. Too muchwater, used in this way, is not good, as itmay cause too much shrinkage of the woolfelt.

Sand-filing the hammers, where theyhave been overtreated with fluid, with areally coarse sandpaper may help to restorehammers to a more moderate quality ofsound. If a glaze has been left on thesurface, sand-filing will remove it and raisethe nap of the felt and modify, to someextent, the too violent sound.

Sometime-s,-after installing newhammers, the tone in the,treble may appearweak. This may be becaus~ of too much felton the hammers, and, while this quality may

Sand-filing bass hammers on a muchused set will often subdue them; whereassand-filing in the treble range may brightentone. The reason for th is is that a crustforms on the striking point of basshammers, due to deposit forming there ofcorrosion of copper or iron from thewinding on the strings. Then, too, thehammers in the bass become sort of gearedto the windings on the strings, and formmore contact than when the surfaced felt,after filing, meets the string. In the treble, ifthe hammers are grooved, since the ridgesbeside the grooves are not likely to clear thestrings instantly, due to the tendency toenfold the smaller wires, the tone becomessmeared and weakened. The speed of theupper treble strings is so rapid in vibrationsper second that the face of the hammersmust be quite clear, or the projection of feltbeyond the grooves will not retreat from thestruck string before a damping action of thevibration takes place. Generally insand-filing the bass should not be filed to apoint where the face of the hammer is fresh,but only to a point where the high ridgesbeside the grooves are removed, leaving thestrings' markings discernible, if the bass is tohold its power and articu lation.

A special phase of observation invoicing, when the tone of a piano seems tobe smothered, especially in the tenor or basssections, is to check the damper lift. Inthese areas, the dampers are usuallywedge-shaped felt, to increase dampingefficiency, for both two string unisons andtrichord notes. Since the darr.per feltprojects through and below the spacesbetween the strings, the damper must belifted high enough to clear the vibratingstrings and not allow them to be fou led byany contact with the felt. In case of troublefrom this source, the dampers must beadjusted to rise higher to prevent it.Sometimes clipping a part of the felt fromthe extreme edge of the bottom of thetriangle-shaped wedge will do the trick, orcause the damper to rise higher byincreasing the thickness of the felt on theback of the key which lifts it. It could bethat there is too much clearance betweenthe lifter felt on the key and the damperlifter lever, in which case the damper levelsmust be regulated, to close the distancebetween the felt on the key and the damperlift lever, but not enough to cause the lifterto ride the key, at rest.

Using a needle to reduce stridence in anote is necessarily experimental. Sometimes,only a light puncture by the needle will havean immediate dramatic effect. Usually thetexture of an individual set of hammers isfairly uniform. Where on one set ofhammers, very light and careful needlingwill do the job, on another set it will take aconsiderable amount of thrusting of theneedle to reduce harsh sounds. In the case

of hammers on a grand piano, it is best tohave a needle, fixed in a long slender shaft,that can be thrust between the strings, withthe action in its proper place in the piano. Abit of probing and exploring will soonindicate how much or how little attention isnecessary to manipulate the tone to thedesired taste.

Page Fifteen

SOME TELEKTRA "AUTOGRAPH" RECORDSBY GERMAINE SCHNITZER

by Bill Knorp

Alan Mueller has provided us with this list; thanks, Alan!

Other artists on Telektra included in this 1913 Catalogue are:Clarence Adler, Felix Arndt, Arthur Friedheim, Frank La Forge, TinaLerner, Daniel Gregory Mason, John Powell, Constantin Sternberg, andothers.

It is important to voice the piano todifferent forces of hammer blows. A pianothat may sound rather even and mellow,under soft touch playing, may be quiteuneven from note to note under heavyattach of the keyboard. Instead of playingchromatically on the keys, as a performerdoes, it is best to train the hand to soundthe keys chromatically with a one-fingerattack of each key uniformly. It takespractice and skill by the technician to usethe same amount of power on each key tocorrespond to the volume level at which heis working.

80216 Papillons, Ope 50, No.5 .80218 Prelude, Ope 28, No. 18, F Minor80219 Preludes, Ope 28, No. 16 and No. 2080279 Des Abends, Ope 12, No.1 .80280 Laendler (Albumblatt) . . . .80282 Preludes, Ope 28, No. 19 and No. 2480283 Etude, Ope 25, No. 11, A Minor

O. Olsen. Chopin. Chopin

Schumann. Schumann.. Chopin.. Chopin

This must be done at no less than threedifferent volume levels. The keys must begone over at the power level; that is thateach note must be struck a good solid blow,with as nearly the same force as possible.The notes that sound out too violently incomparison with others must be reduced bya deep thrust of a single needle, radiallytoward the axis of the hammer, beingcareful not to disturb the felt at the pointsurface. :f wedges are used, it is easy toisolate which one of the two or three stringsis the worst offender, and, with a singleneedle in the hand of a good voicer, thedense spot under the string in question canbe felt with sensitive touch and treated.Then the hammer can be struck with a lightblow to see that not too much damage hasbeen done at a lower level of power.

An excerpt from the above catalogue: "This catalogue contains thefirst list of 'Autograph' records for the TELEKTRA Piano Player. Theserecords are 'photos' of the playing of well-known pianists. Not only dothey reproduce the tempo as played by the artist, but all varieties ofexpression, unassisted. Your musical judgment is never put on trial. Youmerely insert an 'Autograph' record in the transmitter and it is incomplete control. They can only be used on the Telektra Piano Player." -­October 1,1913, The Telektra Company.

NEWS FROM THE TEXAS CHAPTER

AMICAns meet in Fort Worth, out where the West begins.by Steve Chapman

Now the hammers must be gone overat a medium attack level, and a shallowerprobing of the needle to even volume andquality. Finally, the hammers must beserviced for light playing, so that the scalesounds even and delicate. Here the voicing ismostly surface use of the needle.Sometimes, just combing the surface of thefelt with the point of the needle, directlywhere the hammer contacts the string inquestion, is sufficient to allow the gentlecontrol of the soft effects so desirable inpianistic artistry.

These problems of the stages in voicingare, of course, interrelated and this is wherereal skill must be developed. No m~tter

whether the voicing is for power, medium orsubdued control, each phase must blend sothat all are depending on each other, andseparate efforts are coordinat~d to producea pliable instrulllent under the hands of theperformer.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Professional restorers, musical museumowners, showroomsI Advertise in theBulletin. Reach your customers in AMICAfor a mere $10.

The June meeting of the Texas Chapterof AMICA was hosted by Claire and JohnArmstrong at their home in Fort Worth.Approximately 30 people were present atthe meeting, which was held on an informalbasis with no formal program.

The meeting opened with guests beingserved punch and other refreshments uponarrival. The guests quickly clustered aroundthe Armstrong's 6'5" Knabe Ampico A (anearly instrument, with a silent fast forwardbutton and system for automatic repeatingof any selected part of a music rolD. Theinstrument played beautifully. The onlyalteration was a pump mounted under thefloor of the room for silence (weunderstood Dr. Armstrong performed thedastardly deed of cutting the hole in thehardwood floor during the wee hours of thenight, while Claire was sound asleep - atleast until waking to th.e sound of a drill. Itlooks nice when finished, however). Alsodisplayed.·,~..was. a 27" Regina automaticchanging disc box, and a rare Hupfeld Heliosorchestrion. AlL~ere beautifully displayedin the su nken :Jlving room of their fine 1929Italian Ren'aissance home, complete withbalcony looking out over the room. Loversof this type of home enjoyed a tour of thehome>, complete with a tower room with

view, old. servant's quarters, etc. Their rearyard (With swimming pool, which none ofthe guests would venture into, althoughinvited) had a beautiful view looking outover the valley and hills beyond their home,a pretty wooded areas with showplacehomes of about the 1920s. The backyard,beyond the area they use and maintain, hadwhat appeared to b(:t the remains of thehanging gardens of Babylon continuingdown the hill, complete with ponds, stream,stone walkways and bridges and similarlandscaping.

The business meeting was short, with adiscussion of AMICA affairs for theConvention, and the election of DoyleCassel to serve as proxy for our Director, A.M. Pate, Jr., who will not be able to attendthe convention.

Members enjoyed a "bring-your-own"dinner in the back yard area, with aselection of desserts furnished by the hosts.The meeting slowly broke up as guestsreluctantly drifted away by about 8:00.

Plans were made for the Augustmeeting in Waxahachie at the home of Hildaand Steve Chapman, which will include abring-a-dish evening meal.

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR NEW BULLETIN

Page Sixteen

A Texas-Size RumorWe've heard that Bill Flynt has the shell of aMarshall and Wendell piano into which hehas installed an ArtEcho mechanism and itis playing Ampico rolls with a bit ofretubing. Can this be possible?

MINUTES OF AMICA, INTERNATIONAL

July 3, 1972King Edward VIII RoomAlexandria HotelLos Angeles, California

The 1972 Annual Meeting of AMICA,International was called to order at 4: 35p.m. by the President, Frank Loob. The rollcall showed 61 members present,constituting a quorum.

The following officers presented theirannual reports: Frank Loob, President;Roberta Cherney, Secretary; and BobWhiteley, Treasurer, reporting a balance of$902.44.

Dick Reutlinger, MembershipSecretary, announced a total of 544members. The deaths of two honorarymembers, Charles Cooper and Ferde Grofe,leaves 35 honorary members.

Mel Luchetti, Advertising Secretary,speaking as Research Chairman, told of theorigin of the organization's name. At thefounding meeting the group saw that thefirst letters of the name they were evolvingcame close to the Italian word for friend, sothey adjusted the name so it would precisely

Hello, Fellow AMICAns, and welcometo your new bulletin. As you can see,

our looks have changed. We may seem to besmaller, but I think you will find that wehave condensed the same amount ofmaterial in a fewer number of pages. This ispossible because of our 3-column format,the use of set type, and the glossy paperwhich allows clearer reproductions in smallsizes. We hope you find us easier to read andeasier to keep and store. However, ourphilosophy hasn't changed. We hope topublish as much as our fellow AMICAnswant and are interested in, with emphasis onoriginal articles and items of historical note.

Let me introduce myself to you. Myname is Hester Zimmerman, and byprofession I am an advertising copywriter,with 12 years experience in the retail field.Serving with me will be AMICAn BobKershner, audio-visual technician for TheArmy and Air Force Exchange Service inDallas. His graphics and printing backgroundwill be invaluable. Also, AMICAns Bill andElaine Johnson will be handling the mailingof your bulletin (that's the dirty work). Thebulletin is a big job, we know, but with thesupport of all you contributors, we know itwill be a success.

And here's how you can become oneof the contributors. It's easy •• it's fun. Justsend us an article on your pet project,favorite pianist, special instrument, whathave you. Also, we can reproduce almostanything from the original, such as photos,old ads, magazine articles, newspaper storiesand the like, but Xerox's will present aproblem (useful for reference but not sogood to print from). Let me say right now,all original material will be acknowledged onrece ipt and returned to the sender

spell "amica", pronounced a-ME-c8, whichirrevocably established the pronunciation ofthe name and set the group's standard forfriend Iiness.

Gar Britten, Auctioneer, and VirginiaBillings, Publisher, reported, followed bythe officers' reporting on the chairmanshipsthey held. The Convention Report waspresented by the chairman, Sally Lawrence,who announced a registration of 194members for the 1972 Biennial Conventionof AMICA headquartered at the AlexandriaHotel in Los Angeles.

Roberta Cherney, Chairman of theNominating Committee, read thecommittee's slate and moved it be accepted.The motion was seconded and passed. Thesebeing only one candidate for each office,the President, Frank Loob, declared thefollowing officers elected: Frank Loob,President; George Coade, Vice President;William Reed, Secretary; Bob Whiteley,Treasurer; Tom Meeder, MembershipSecretary; Garner Britten, Auctioneer; andHester Zimmerman, Publisher.

undamaged as soon as possible. Restassured, we will baby that antique article asif it were our very own. What better way tobecome a world-renowned author than withthe AMICA bulletin? And Yours Truly willbe so gratefu II

We hope not to become embroiled inany personal feuds, but we will be starting anew feature, "Letters to the Editor". Here'syour chance to vent your opinion aboutanything and everything - gripes about thebulletin, suggestions - what have you. Butplease, no names, no personalities. We don'twant any libel suits on our hands. Both sidesof any controversy will be presented asfairly and completely as possible.

Another new feature has beensuggested, a IIHeip Wanted" section. Hereyou can send out requests for information,advise and know-how. We can't guaranteethe results, but what do you think?

I want to take th is opportunity tothank our able Board of Directors forvoicing such confidence in my ability toproduce an AMICA bulletin that willcontinue to be as good and informative aswe've had the last few years. I personallythink Ginny has done a great job; I can onlyhope to do as well. Thanks, Ginny, formaking the AMICA bulletin what it istoday. Tomorrow, I guess I'll have theanswer for that.

Sincerely,Your Publisher,

Under new business, members urgedthe date for the next convention be set assoon as possible.

A Year Book was discussed and AnitaNickels moved that a committee or personbe appointed by the board to prepare forpublication of a membership roster in bookform, both in alphabetical order by nameand by state, to include a limited amount ofpertinent information. The motion wasseconded but failed to pass.

The roll auctions were discussed nextand Jon Lawson moved that the periodicAMI CA, International roll auctions behandled by mail bids only. The motion wasseconded but was voted down.

How the organization could bestencourage people working on new methodsof roll reproduction and new issues wastouched on briefly before the meetingadjourned at 6: 35 p.m.

Submitted byRoberta Cherney, Secretary

THE MASTER: S•

FING E R.S ON YOUR PIANO= ... \

A AONEY can buy no gift that will so fully bless both giver andt-/ r1 receiver as a reproducing piano equipped with the personally

human mechanism-Welte-Mignon Licensee Reproducing Action.Welte-Mignon Licensee actually puts the master's fingers on your

piano-Paderewski, De Pachmann and Gieseking, the new star in thepianoforte heavens.

Your Christmas selection of a reproducing piano may be madefrom one hundred and fifteen of America's finest pianos, allconraining Welte-Mignon Licensee. You will find Welte-MignonLicensee dealers everywhere.

THE AUTO PNEUMATIC ACTION CO.W. C. Heaton, President

653 West 51st Street New York

Page Eighteen

RYTHMODIK RECORDING ARTISTS

by Dick Howe

As part of a project aimed at developing a complete list ofRythmodik rolls, a list of the Rythmodik recording artists has beendeveloped. This list, prepared with assistance from Elaine Obenchain andVernon Brown, is presented below. Any additions, corrections, orcomments would be much appreciated. Please send them to the author at12335 Rip Van Winkle, Houston, Texas, 77024.

OCTOBER TEXAS MEETINGJerry Bacon,3546 Morningside Ave.Dallas, Texas.October 8, 3 P.M..

*Clarence Adler--- Akst*Eugen d'Albert*Luba d' AlexandrowskaArthur AndersonPansy Andrus*Harry Archer*Victor Arden*Adriano Ariani*Fred Arnor:m. J. Axtman*Cecile Ayres*Wilhelm Bachaus*Frank Banta*Harold Bauer*Wm. E. Berge*Eubie Blake*Carrie Jacobs Bond*Adolphe BorchardAlphonse E. Borhrer--- Botsford*Louis BreauMae Brisette*Howard Brockway*Richard Buhlig*Wm. Lincoln Bush*Ferruccio Busoni*Rarriet Cady*Teresa CarrenoHelen ChaseHenry Chase*Herbert ClairLe\., Cobey*E. Fred ColberEmil Coleman*George CopelandMaree Cooke*Esther Marvin Cutchin*Leonard DavisLee David*Wal ter Decker*Harry DeCos ta*Reginald DeKovenEugenie DePrimoWill Donaldson*Maurice DurnesnilW. J. DuncanTed Eas twood*James Ecker*Helen Louise Edgar*Melville Ellis*Artemisa Elizondo

*Edgar Fairchild*George Fairman*Geraldine FarrarSam Feinberg*Maida Firucici--- Florigny*Arthur Franklin*Annette Frances*Hugo Frey--- Friedland*Lewis Fuiks*Paolo Gallico*Felix GerdtsKenne th E. Goi t*Leopold Godo\vs1).y*Katherine Goodson*Lowell Grant*Edvard GriegThomas GriselleVictor Griselle*Albert Gumble*Mark Hambourg*Hans Hanke*Gertr-ude Henneman*Leander H. Hansen*l-fary E. Harrison*Jane HaroldHerschel Henlere*Theodore HenrionCharles HenryMabel Herbert*Victor Herbert--- HillbergRussell Hird*Ferdinand Hi:nmelreich*Fredcrick Albert Hoschke*At thur llochr.lan*Josef HofmannJane Howard*McNair Ilgenfritz--- Isra..:lJames P. Johnson*Joseph JoinerHerbert Jones*Robert Joyce*Joyce BrothersH. B. Kernell--- Kerntler*Edwin Kendall--- Kimbal*Paul King*Bertha Klemen

*Andrei Kmi ta*Fritz Kreisler*Frank LaForge*Earle LaRoss*Joseph Lambert*Max Landow*Eas twood Lane--- Layton*Harry LedererJohn I. Lederer*Ethel Leginska*Ralph LeopoldMattie LevineOscar LifsheyEva Liminana*Arthur Loesser--- LuigiJimmie ~1cHugh

*Donald MakayLewis Hakay<Pietro Mascagni--- Hartucci*Mrs. D. S. :-1elamet*Murray Hencher*Frank HilneMelville Morris--- Hiur*Raphael Navas*Fillmore Ohman*Leo Orns tein*Wilfred Pelletier*Maude PiersonMaceo PinkardLew Pollack*Muricl Pollock*Wynne PyleEmilia Quintero*Guiseppe Randegger*Lt. Gitz Ingraham Rice*Gus tave Riemann*Claire Rivers*Lee S. Roberts*Adele Rosenthal

*Olga Samaroff*Xaver Scharwenka*Fred A. Schmitz--- Schwartz*Harry Shipman*Marion Scott*Morris Simon*Henry Souvaine--- Speranto

*Al Sterling*Dan J. Sullivan*Milton SuskindHarry Thomas*Augus ta S. Tollefsen*Lillian UtzEgbert A. Van Alstyne*Marguerite VolavyFrank Laird Haller--- Walter*Mabel Wayne*--- Ward-StephensHenry Charles \oJebb*Pete Wendling*Jerry White*James Whittaker*Otto Winternitz*Eleanor Winogradoff*Edwin \Hlliarns*Victor \Httgenstein*Bertha \oJolpa*Vincent Youmans*Michael ZadoraD. Carlos Alfonso Zelayer*Mana Zucca

**Assisted by:

A. F. - *Arthur Franklin,*Annette Frances

E. \.;. - *E1eanor \oJinogradoffW.E.D. - \oJ. E. Draper,

\<:ill DonaldsonH.C. - *Herbert Clair,

Henry Chase,Helen Chase,

*Harrie t CadyM.P. - Haceo Pinkard,

*Nuriel PollockE.C. - *Esther CutchinII.S. - *Harry Shipman,

*lienry SouvaineR.J. - *Robert JovceE.F. - *Edgar Fai~childE.B. - *Eubie BlakeP. \oJ. - *Pete \\'endling

*Ampico Artis ts**Possible Arti s ts - Very

difficult to confirm.

-

RECORD REVIEWby Dennis E. Ferrara

PIANO MUSIC OF LEOPOLDGODOWSKY (1870-1938). DORIS PINES,PIANIST. GENESIS RECORDING GS1000. STEREO. INCLUDES:Rameau-Godowsky: Tambourin (fromRenaissance); Wienerisch (from 24 tonefantasies in three-quarter time);Walzermasker (from Miniatures for Piano, 4hands, with Linda Friedman); Etude, Opus10, Number 6 for Left Hand Alone(Chopin-Godowsky); Badinage(Chopin-Godowsky); Die FledermausParaphrase (Strauss-Godowsky); FirstMovement from Sonata in E (Allegro);Gamelan and Chattering Monkeys from theJava Suite.

Here we have an exciting disc of thefirst order. It is sad, as I stated before, thatGodowsky did not record any of his ownmusic; however, here on this new releasefrom Genesis Recordings, we have a taste ofthe great pianist as a virtuoso composer.Miss Pines, who studies with ClaraenceAlder, a long-time friend of LeopoldGodowsky, certainly can play this uniqueand extremely difficult music. Therecording is taken from an actual "live"recital and is a great disc of its type.

Dr. Rudolph Ganz, 95, died August 2 in Chicago.He was President Emeritus of Roosevelt Univer­sity's Chicago Musical College and a concert pi­anist credited with the introduction of the musicof Ravel and Debussy to the United States.

Genesis Recordings is a specialcompany which records the unique andunknown piano music of the 19th century.It is a fine company who records unknownromantic works and exposes the AmericanRecord Buyer to something much moreinteresting than the standard "pot boiler"Overture,' or another 1812, or anotherSymphony Number 5.

The stereo quality is excellent. Recordsurfaces are extremely good. There are fineprogram notes on each album. For anyonewho is interested in Godowsky, this albumis a must.

The playing is exciting and will keepyou, to use an old cliche, "on the edge ofyour seat".

Recordings may be obtained throughGenesis Recordingsm 225 Santa MonicaBlvd., Santa Monica, California, 90401.

ILETTE RS TO THE EDITOR I•••While on a recent business trip toWashington, D.C., I had an enjoyable visit atthe "Music Machines - American Style"exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.Although the exhibit contains only a fewinstruments, including an Ampicoreproducing grand piano, it is beautifu lIydisplayed and the various machines areplayed for the public once each day. Theyoung man in charge of the restoration,Durward Center, will be happy to arrangefor personal tours for AMICA members. Anappointment is necessary for a tour and canbe made by phone with Mr. Center at202-381-5082 or 381-5010 during thenormal business hours.

Bill Burkhardt1145 Lakeside Drive, S. E.Grand Rapid, Michigan 49506

•••1 was interested to learn in one of therecent bulletins that my new roll was cutout with a razor blade on the living roomfloor in 100 hoursl Someone mixed up theirinformation somewhere along the line,because the PianOrchestra Roll (ThoroughlyModern Millie) which was featured at themeeting at the Coede's took me 15 hours toarrange out of my head and draw on blankpaper, and it took 4 hours for Mike Kitnerof-Carlisle, Pa. (AMICA member) to punchout three copies on his homemadeperforator. Our next project is a new seriesof popular songs for the PianOrchestra,which we're working on right now.

Art Reblitz3916 N. AzaleaColorado Springs, Colorado 80907

MID-WEST CHAPTER?

Do you live in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois,Indiana, or there~bouts?

The organization of a giant mid-westchapter of AMICA is in the works andinterested members residing in these statesare urged to write

Tom Fortier712 E. Chelsea CircleDavison, Michigan 48423

Best of luck, Tom. All the establishedchapters are backing you upl

For $10 you can reach every collectorof import with your business ad. Advertisein the Bulletinl

•••1 am, and I'm sure many others are, quitedisappointed in the way the recuttingprogram (well, almost) was handled, andmost of all by the lack of detailedinformation on what was happening, whichwas passed on to those of us who orderedrolls. I think that since various people putup over $12,000, which was held for over ayear and then returned without a penny ofinterest, deserve a little more informationon what went on than the sketchy boardmeeting minutes in the bulletins and thevague form letter which accompanied ourrefund checks. I would like to know whowas contacted as possible sources for therecuts, especially the last source which itseemed was going to produce the rolls, andwhy all of a sudden everything fell through•.According to the board meeting minutes inthe bulletin, one week a pilot roll wasselected and two weeks later a vote wastaken to abandon the project. Whathappened in that week? It also said thatconsiderable discussion followed the motionto discontinue the project, yet nothing wassaid as to the nature of the discussion.

Russ Jenson1652 Euclid AvenueCamarillo, California 93010

(Submitted by Douglas Johnson)

HOW TO POLISH YOUR PIANO, CIRCA 1920

"Perhaps the best method forpolishing pianos, carriage orau tomobile bodies, and otherhigh-class varnished surfaces is to goover the varnish first with a pledget ofabsorbent cotton saturated withkerosene. Then go over it with a pieceof chamois leather dipped first in oliveoil and then in finely powdered andbolted rotten stone, using a circularmovement. Wipe off the rotten stonewith the palm of the hand, moving in arotary direction and wiping off thehand after each rotation; and then goover the surface with a piece ofchamois saturated with olive oil.Finally wipe dry with a piece of softsilk. "

From the Druggists Circular Formula Book, 1920 Edition

.Page Nineteen

Do you have any problems with thereceipt of your bulletin? Need some changeeffected on your membership record? Haveany questions pertaining to membership inAMICA? Want a membership enrollmentblank? Want copies of "1 ntroduction toAMICA" or "From Carillon toAmpichron"? For solution of any of theseproblems, just direct your questions to:

Mr. Tom MeederMembership Secretary494 Stanford PlaceSanta Barbara, Ca. 93111

HELPI•••1 have a very fine Bauer piano which isequipped with the Welte-Licensee action. Ihave rebuilt this instrument completely andin fact have had it arou nd here for severalyears. Musically, it is very disappointing, yetI cannot seem to put my finger on what isexactly wrong with it. Everything checksout perfectly with the test roll, and theinstrument will play both soft and loud.However, about the best word I can comeup with to describe what happens inbetween is "lumpy". The transitions fromphrase to phrase in the recordedcompositions on many music rolls justsimply are not pleasant listening.

Some people tell me that the W31te rollscause this, but this simply does not makesense as a piano which performs as poorly asthis never could have been sold in the firstplace. I wonder if any of the readers of thebulletin could offer me any advice.

Harvey RoehlP. O. Box 97

..3533 Stratford DriveVestal, New York 13850

•••1 have a 1932 Stroud Duo-Art and amdesperate to find a tube layout for thisaction. Can anyone tell me where to buyone, or put me in contact with a memberwho can?

Milton H. Cooperman9 Bronson PlaceToledo, Ohio 43608(419) 244-0170

•••1 would like to issue a catalogue of all theknown Leopold Godowsky ReproducingPiano Rolls. I need titles - all the Ampico,Duo-Art, Welte, etc., NUMBERS, labels.Also, I need the Skinner Reproducing Rolltitles and numbers of rolls recorded byClarence Dickenson, Pietro Yon, PalmerChristian and Robert Elmore.

Dennis E. FerraraWFJC Radio1401 East Court StreetFlint, Michigan 48503

FOR SALEChickering Grand

with

Ampico B

COMPLETE, NOT RESTORED

60 rolls

Regular and Long-playing

F or information,

contact original owner

FRANK P. PARISH

Route 1,

Taneytown,MD 21787

Phone 301-756-6625

AM leA BULLETINH. Zimmerman

Publisher

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATIONP. O. Box 77525, San Francisco, Ca 1i forn ia 94107

DATED MATERIALReturn Postage Guaranteed

CASTYOUR

FATETO

THEWINDS!

Advertise in the Bulletin. What betterway to reach all the collectors of import?

Professional restorers, musical museumowners, showrooms I Advertise in theBulletin. Reach your customers in AMICAfor a mere $10.

Bulk Rate

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

Dallas, TXPermit No. 6523