Chase & Baker 65-note roll on green paper. This type of roll has wooden pin ends which are red instead of the usual black. No seperate roll leaders, just the label. Metronomically cut rolls with basic interpretational marking. I was puzzled for the reason that these rolls were made on green paper (and the following Chase & Baker rolls appearded on grey paper). I recently came across an old Chase & Baker piano roll advert which finally explained the reason. They were specifically made in these colours to look more aesthetically pleasing in the piano compared to a white paper roll. Presumably green paper for natural wood coloured pianos and grey for instruments with ebonized cases. Yes, I know this sounds cranky but it was a definate marketing ploy used by this company. This is the only brand where rolls were coloured as a marketing ploy.

Chase & Baker 65-note roll on grey paper. This type of roll has distinctly graphite coloured paper. They are not green ones which faded as some have previously thought. No seperate roll leaders, just the label. Metronomically cut rolls with basic interpretational marking.

Angelus Melodant Artistyle 65-note Roll. This type of roll plays bottom to top and inside out. The roll width is a fraction of an inch wider than the usual size. The pin drive end is on the left as opposed to the right and has a smaller diameter. They won't play in normal 65-note machines although the scale is chromatic - the spool simply won't fit. The dynamic line and tempo line are combined into a printed chain of letters. No seperate roll leaders, just the label. The Artistyle printing was designed to give the "pianolist" a guide to producing a more artistic performance from metronomically cut rolls and in this respect was a competitior to Aeolian's Metrostyle system of roll over-printing. While both systems of printing have their shortcomings the Metrostyle system in practice had much greater scope for error than the Artistyle system.. It was introduced in 1907 with Angelus's new Melodant system which was the same in general principle to Aeolian's Themodist system. For a fuller discussion click here.

Universal 65-note Song Roll. Made in the UK by Aeolian. The numbers all begin 46xxx with the last three being the number of the tune. The last three digits are the same whatever the Aeolian Song roll. The other series (88-note Universal and Aeolian 88-note) would begin 26xxx and 36xxx. The words are down one side with a line to follow dynamics on the other. The dynamic line doesnt have a wide range across the roll like other rolls to avoid crossing over to the words.

Themodist 88-note Roll - early unchained-perforation type. Early 88-note rolls copied 65-note roll perforations. But narrower notes meant thinner strips between notes and 88-note unchained rolls ribboned across the tracker bar potentially easier than their 65-note counterparts. This roll has sustain, themodist, green dynamic line and red metrostyle line to vary the tempo. made by Aeolian. Themodist rolls were also made for the 65-note scale with exactly the same markings, themodist holes at the margins but no sustain pedal (as 65-note doesn't play this).

Themodist 88-note Roll - chained-perforation type. To resolve the problems of the type of roll above the notes were next cut in very close holes - close enough not to cause the note to reiterate nor lose power. The melody was cut clean to highlight it. This example has a blue line showing stack division just as the Hupfeld Animatic roll does otherwise the roll markings are the same as above. 6-holes-per-inch rolls were not chain perforated successfully. I have one example of a 58-note Aeolian Grand organ roll (6 holes per inch) with chain perforations - the bridges between the individual holes are smaller than in the 9 per inch format to prevent note reiteration with the result that the roll shreds even easier than before. The 9 per inch chained perforation like this example has become the standard as it works very succesfully. To see the Aeolian Grand roll with the disastrous result of chaining perforations at 6-per-inchclick here

Autograph-Metrostyle. These rolls are standard rolls that had the Metrostyle line makings ostensibly mastered by the celebrity (the majority of whom were composers with the rest being pianists) whose facsimile autograph and interpretational directions appeared at the beginning of the roll as in this example. In the days before hand-played rolls this concept was designed to bring the "pianolist" one step closer to producing a convincing performance. This system wasn't used for any substantial period and must therefore be considered as transitional prior to the widespread introduction of hand-played recordings by Aeolian. This example (from a piece by Chaminade) is "autographed" by Cecile Chaminade. It featured chained perforations, themodist expression and is printed additionally with a blue line showing stack division (see the other Themodist roll examples above). Now, who ever said Chaminade could be boring?

Temporized. This is an 88-note roll with a few interesting features. At the start of the roll are the following words;- "This TEMPORIZED roll should travel over the tracker board at a UNIFORM speed of 6 feet per minute". At the start of the music as in the first picture above is a feature that only appears on test rolls - it states that the roll should go from the first line to the next (6 feet further up the roll) in a minute. This is to check your player is running at the correct speed for the roll. In the second picture is another unusual feature. A hand points to a pair of chained perforation notes with the words "Notes of this character are not intended to repeat." Evidently this roll dates from a time when chained perforations were just being introduced and the manufacturer felt it necessary to tell customers that the chaining was intentional. That said, in this particular roll the only other chained perforations are 3 further pairs as in the second picture. Why bother? So, who made this roll? It was made by Standard in the US in November 1913. This is easy to tell by the distinctive purple printing and serial stamps at the end and reverse side of the beginning of the roll just like Standard's Electra brand also. The left spool flange is spring loaded like a Melographic roll but even better made. The music represents a hand-played performance by a named artist and reproduces this very well.

Full-Scale Uni-Record. This is quite an oddity. It was made in the UK by Aeolian and the music represents an early hand-played performance. As such the Metrostyle markings were dispensed with as unnecessary. To give a good result of syncopation this roll runs at an unusually fast speed of 120 (12 feet per minute). The perforations show a very accurate record of what was played apart from minimal cleaning up of wrong notes and chaining the perforations. There are also parts where there is soft pedal perforation (as in this example on the far right of the picture)- which is odd on a roll which is a themodist one in all other respects. It dates from the time just before the Duo-Art system was introduced. About 50 of this series were re-coded with Duo-Art code later on and the series in general mirrors the otherwise identical Metro-Art series which has even numbered serial numbers to the Uni-Record odd numbered sequence(many thanks Julian Dyer).The leader is just the standard unbranded full-scale one on grey papaer with black print with the geometric ribbon design at each side. So how does it all sound? Well, even at 120 it's quite crude...but don't blame the machinery as who knows, the pianist may have been crude to start with!

Temponome 88-note Artist Played Roll. This roll does not have a sustain pedal cut. Instead all the notes have been extended to hold the dampers off where the sustain pedal would normally have been used. Experimental. Developmental. Unusual! How does it all sound? Actually it's very suprisingly highly realistic. As unless your player piano responds well with it's sustain pneumatic from the roll Temponone rolls always damp the music precisely whatever else may happen. The only thing is that hearing notes sustained which play only isn't how a pianist normally sustains music and although the effect is very good you may just hear that there is something not quite 100 percent about it in comparison to a live pianist!

Philag 88-note Artists Roll. Made by Phillips in Germany. These are accurate well-crafted recordings of hand-played performances. The roll ends are not black but varnished natural wood without stain or paint. The leaders have a picture of the Phillips factory on them.

Hupfeld Animatic 88-note Roll. Made by Hupfeld in Germany. These are considered the pinnacle of all first class recordings of hand-played performances. This fact speaks well of the capabilities of the very highly regarded Triphonola reproducing produced by the same company and from which rolls these were sometimes produced. The roll paper has a watermark either with the word "Phonola" and the date watermarked also or a watermarked musical treble stave with the notes B & E shown. The B & E is really H & E (H is musical B in germanic european music notation). H & E are the initials of the company that made the roll paper. Hupfeld eventually bought them outright to make all Hupfelds paper exclusively. The rolls have "snakebite"-type expression and are cut to play at constant speed. The red central line does not show that the roll goes at a constant speed. It is marked to show the two halves of the stack so the operatot can see which half of the stack the melody is playing in. Although these rolls will play on normal players the vice versa does not necessarily apply. Why? Well, the auto-sustain holes on Hupfeld rolls and tracker bars are a fraction further to the right than normal rolls and players. The dark green leaders printed with red ink have a picture of the Hupfeld factory on them and often a line drawing of the performing artist also. The less frequent alternate leader design on beige paper with brown ink has the word "animatic" surrounded by scrollwork and the roll label only.

Echo Dance Roll - Master Roll. This is a corrected pre-production master roll from the Echo factory. It was probably one in a series wherein successive corrections were made until the roll was just right. See how the perforations are just straight cut slots and the sustain pedal and themeing holes are just single punches cut out! Apparently some of their output consisted of playing normal Aeolian themodist rolls via a push-up onto their recording piano which then therefore became a "performance" and not a copyright infringement. The artists thus credited where apparently the proprietors mother-in-law, brother etc. for want of suitable names to stick on the roll labels! You can see in the picture where wrong notes were circled in pencil and then taped over. The factory was located in Battersea, London and the rolls sold for just 1/- making them very competitive against the established brands. They sold quite well and turn up in the UK quite often. Billy Mayerl hand-played some performances on this otherwise undistinguished backstreet label before his career really took off.(Many thanks Julian Dyer for an insight into the cheap but entertaining antics of the Echo Company)