The Music Roll Arranging and Cutting Departments

The music roll arranging department.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The music roll arranging department. In the foreground a music arranger works diligently to lay out a new master roll template. The blank master roll paper is stored on a partially visible wooden flanged spool at far left, and the paper next droops down to the floor and then up and across the music arrangers table. The master paper has sprocket holes along each side of the paper. At center in the background is a lady sitting at a push-button controlled machine that is used to semi-automatically quickly punch out holes and/or chain perforations for all of the marked up piano notes and expression controls. At background right is an Aristocrat upright reproducing piano made by National/AMI and introduced circa 1925-1926. On top of the piano is a pile of 19 Welte Mignon (Licensee) music roll boxes, some probably empty, but others with rolls that could be interchanged with music rolls previously loaded onto the Multi-Control 10-roll magazine built into the right-hand side of the piano case. The piano was probably used by the music arrangers to work out the details of their arrangements. To the left of the piano, and laying on the floor, are two master rolls propped up on one end by an empty master roll spool.

This image is from a 16" x 20" broadsheet probably printed circa 1926, and titled: Nickels Piled Up into Millions of Dollars Under the Management of this Organization. The original caption read: Making Master Music Rolls in the Plant of Automatic Musical Instrument Company. From these "Masters" the Music Rolls are manufactured in Quantity, as shown in the picture below.

The music roll perforating department.

(Photograph courtesy of John Perschbacher.)

The music roll perforating department. There appears to be four perforators busy turning out music rolls at fifteen copies per run. This image is from a 16" x 20" broadsheet probably printed circa 1926, and titled: Nickels Piled Up into Millions of Dollars Under the Management of this Organization. The original caption read: Making Music Rolls in the Plant of Automatic Musical Instrument Company. Thousands of Rolls are Furnished Weekly for Servicing the Automatic Pianos, all of which are made in the Plant.

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