ARTCRAFT Music Rolls

ARTCRAFT Recordings - Stereo Tape Cassettes

ARTCRAFT Music Rolls
P.O. Box 295 (16 Lee Street)
Wiscasset, Maine 04578 USA
[Telephone: (207) 882-7420]
CELL 'PHONE number: Use this number when the Studio one, above, doesn't answer.
We have our cellular telephone "on" 24/7 plus every time we leave the Studio/residence.
(207) 631-1761


"Interpretive Arrangements" for a VIRTUOSO performance on all Player-Pianos and 'Reproducing' Pianos

The acclaimed ARTCRAFT Music Rolls make obsolete the commercial rolls of the past, for they do not have the homogeneous striking and excessive sustaining pedal effects, which mar so many player roll arrangements.

Table of Contents

Information about Player-Piano Rolls
A Thumbnail History of Commercial Rolls and ARTCRAFT Interpretive Arrangements
Illustrated Text! See the ARTCRAFT Perforators and learn about music roll development.
Click here

WHAT IS A "REPRODUCING" PIANO?
Here's a quick and simple explanation!
Click here

'THE PIANOLA NEWS' - Current edition and links to prior Issues
Don't miss this important text about the old piano industry using pianists' names (real ones or pseudonyms)
for the marketing of Music Rolls! Read Dead Heads on Parade!
Click here

ARTCRAFT Recordings — Stereo Cassettes of Player-Pianos
Click here

ARTCRAFT Music Roll Menu
ARTCRAFT Music Rolls - 88-Note and 'Reproducing'
This is where the comprehensive List of 88-Note (standard player) and Duo-Art (expression) 'reproducing' rolls are listed.
Click here

Visit our new Ampico (expresssion) roll department ... and more titles will be released soon.
Click here

ARTISTS' CHOICE MUSIC ROLLS - Welte-Mignon Releases
by Robin Pratt, Sandusky Ohio
Click here

Photographic Web Pages

See an ARTCRAFT Master Roll being created!
Click here

See an ARTCRAFT Music Roll being perforated outdoors ... on the Maine Coast!
Click here

See pictures of the 1929 'Reprotone' player, used for a series of 10 Pianola Concerts at Searsport Shores, Maine. (The pictures were taken on location.)
Click here

Did you ever see a "road sign" advertising a PIANOLA CONCERT? There's one in Maine!
Take a look!
Click here

The BALLET MECANIQUE Website
George Antheil's experimental 1924 "Pianola + Movie Film" composition was finally realized in 1991, by L. Douglas Henderson, who reconstructed the original rolls for a Swedish TV-Radio broadcast. Read about these unusual rolls and some recent concerts which substituted electronic instruments. See pictures of the 1925 original French 'Pleyela' rolls in contrast with the 1991 ARTCRAFT Interpretive Arrangements.
Click here

ARTCRAFT Rolls are featured at The Lucerne Piano Festival!
Click here

See the ARTCRAFT "Travelling Pianola" — The 1929 Story & Clark "REPROTONE" player!
Click here

 Don't miss this "Autumn in Maine" Web page! You'll see 18 images, most with the fantastic Fall foliage of October 2000. This has nothing to do with Player-piano rolls, but the pictures you'll see were taken on roads which connect The ARTCRAFT Studio (Wiscasset), the roll storage building (Boothbay) and 'ARTCRAFT North' (Searsport) — our "trailer by the Sea" location on Penobscot Bay, Maine.
Click here

See beautiful Cumston Hall in Monmouth, Maine ... and read about a museum exhibit which involved ARTCRAFT Music Rolls,
IBM cards and mechanical looms!
Click here

Articles and E-Mail

The Connecticut Chapter of THE PIANO TECHNICIANS GUILD
hosts an "Artcraft Music Rolls" presentation!
Click here

Read an on-line Interiew with ARTCRAFT Music Rolls
by Interface Monthly — a New England computer magazine (5-11-1998)
Click here

Send an E-Mail message for ARTCRAFT Music Rolls


mailto:artcraft@wiscasset.net

How to order safely via E-Mail. Check out this page!
Click here

New feature: The ARTCRAFT E-Mail 'periodic' Newsletter!

Would you like to receive a FREE periodic E-Mail letter from ARTCRAFT ... announcing the NEW Roll Releases — plus information and news about the activities in The ARTCRAFT Studio? We'll include a link to special illustrated pages, from time to time, as well.

Back in May of 2000, we joined an E-Mail transmitting service with Microsoft, called Listbot. This closed down in August of 2001, but our ARTCRAFT Newsletters "continue" ... now being sent from our own server in Maine. If you are already receiving the ARTCRAFT Newsletter, there's nothing to do; we have transferred your address to our own special files ... and future mailings will arrive with via <rollnews@wiscasset.net>,

If you would like to receive our periodic E-Mail, with no obligation to purchase anything, just click on the JOIN THE NEWSLETTER link — which follows — and we'll take care of the rest!

Later, if you wish to unsubscribe, just say so in the blank message space. Otherwise, if we receive your blank E-Mail, with the "Subscribe" SUBJECT LINE that's set up automatically for you ... you'll be added to the list, which is growing weekly. Hundreds and hundreds of player roll enthusiasts are already enjoying The ARTCRAFT Newsletter ... which comes out ever so often, these days.

You can ask to be removed at any time, and you don't need to own a Player-Piano, either. In fact, we don't ask any questions, since your E-Mail address is all that's needed. You obviously have an interest in Pianola rolls, so that's enough for us.

Give our FREE newsletter a try!

JOIN THE NEWSLETTER!
Click Here!

The link, above, sets up a blank message, addressed to us, with "Subscribe" in the SUBJECT line, viz. a "mailto:" letter. You can write anything you want in the blank message space, but it's not necessary (unless you want to unsubscribe, of course).

Here's the "Archives Page" where all the published Newsletters can be found!

http://wiscasset.nnei.net/artcraft/archives.htm


Click on the Webpage links above ... check out the Newsletters ... and if you discover that they are of interest to you, then use the 'Join The Newsletter' link. We feature music roll pictures, texts and other 'extras', on special added pages which "connect" to specific Newsletters.
The Newsletter is where you'll learn about the brand-new Ampico, Duo-Art and 88-Note player roll releases, first!


Check out this Illustrated Website on eBay ... old rolls will be auctioned off, soon, to make space for our
"10 year supply" of ARTCRAFT  Interpretive Arrangements
We don't play our boxed up collection of old commercial rolls any more, having surpassed the standards of the past ... and we need the space. We've increased our inventory at the storage building to 'last' until 2017 ... so something's got to go!
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/artcraftrolls

ARTCRAFT Music Rolls, PO Box 295, Wiscasset, Maine 04578 USA — Telephone: (207) 882-7420  or (207) 631-1761
L. Douglas Henderson, Prop.

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[Information and Links]

ARTCRAFT Recommendations

BROWSER:

ARTCRAFT Music Rolls now uses the Norwegian browser with 'speed' and customized versatility:

You owe it to yourself to try this unusual application ... and it's free! ARTCRAFT has been using Opera as a default browser on our PCs since Version 3.64, which is a long time ago in the field of computer browsers. Click on the Opera banner above or use this address: http://www.opera.com/index.dml and discover the speed and efficiency of the latest Opera edition, now in Version 9.x (at this writing).

Cell 'Phone E-MAIL:

About 85% of our Internet letters are written/received on a Palm Treo 650 cellular 'phone, one of several in the genre called Smartphones (a word we avoid, due to disliking the "smart" reference being overused in our time).  Being in a low end cell 'phone region, we use the free Opera Mini on our Treo, and it's very fast. Those who operate in more developed areas might be able to have the full featured Opera Mobile browser as the default on their handset. Our Treo serves as an mp3 player, a camera and even composes MS-Word .doc messages with our ARTCRAFT letterhead. You can read more about Opera Mini cell 'phone browsers here: http://www.operamini.com/ - including their latest edition, launched recently, called "Dimension" (Opera Mini 4)

SHORTWAVE Radios — Beyond the Internet, it's the modern way to get the "real" news, today!

In these times, you can't get anything but filtered information and 'rehash' on the American networks, so there has been a Renaissance in Shortwave receivers, starting a few years, ago. Digital tuning makes it simple to access the foreign stations. Shortwave is immediate and often provides a totally different perspective on what is called "news" in the United States, today.

We highly recommend The Shortwave Store in Ontario, a family-owned business, operated by Keith and Alma Carcasole. Due to their excellent, personalized E-Mail service, even giving us the 'pros-and-cons' of various models, we have purchased several Shortwave receivers from their enterprise. Check out this link and the parent business called Durham Radio, which connects to The Shortwave Store page.

LINUX: The time has come to consider "phasing out" Microsoft Windows!

We have dual-boot laptops, running Linux as well as several versions of Windows, ending with XP Pro our the latest computer. One country after another is going in for Open Source software and/or Linux platforms. It's a pleasure to run applications which never seem to be plagued with glitches and viruses. There are several major players in the Linux field, but you might try Mandriva, which combines the older (French) Mandrake with the Connectiva brand from Brazil. Here's their Internet address: http://www.mandriva.com/ - - with disk partioning software like VCom's Partition Commander, it's easy to have Linux for speed and efficiency and still use Windows for those old programs which merely trudge along.

 Start your morning The ARTCRAFT Way with "Vermont Morning" hot cereal

This organic hot cereal is good at any time of the year, and can be prepared with a variety of grain+water combinations. VERMONT MORNING is the creation of Patricia and Peter Floyd, and - in our opinion - it stands apart and above other domestic and imported hot cereals that we've tried. They have many suggestions for the perparation, but our own bowls of the multi-grain porridge are 3/8 of a cup for the cereal to 1 1/4 cups of water. (For those without accurate measuring cups, 3/8 is between 1/3 and 1/2 a cup, approximately.) You can purchase VERMONT MORNING at the better organic co-ops as well as on-line from their Internet site: http://www.vtmorning.com/

 Maine produces some of the BEST organic coffee beans available
Check out "Rock City Coffee Roasters" in Rockland, Maine!
 
Every month we have 2 one-pound bags sent to us: ORGANIC ONE WORLD BLEND plus the ROASTER'S CHOICE. There so many great beans, which are craft roasted by this Maine enterprise, but you could start with this particular blend and then discover your own favourites. If you don't live in Maine, you can order on-line from their Website - http://www.rockcitycoffee.com/
  Take it from us, if you enjoy quality coffee, you definitely must experience the superlative beans from Rock City, in Rockland ME - or visit their roastery and Rockland stores if you are in the coastal Maine area.

  It's time to subscribe to a REAL news magazine: The Nation!
If you have read this far on our Home Page, you know that we don't hold much faith in the reporting of news in this era of corporated controlled media, the phalanx of lobbyists who 'purchase' politicians and the filtered nature of the so-called news of our day. Beyond Shortwave Radio (see above) you should subscribe to THE NATION, a weekly that has been published since 1865. It's America's oldest magazine and has attracted the most famous authors from past times ... and our own turbulent present. By dropping your subscriptions to the "big media" periodicals - including the famous newspapers - you can get fast and comprehensive articles in THE NATION. For more information, go to this Website: http://www.thenation.com/  This in-depth and often lively magazine has a "trial subscription" plan, so it costs you nothing to sample it for several issues.

Other Internet news sources for our time:
http://www.truthout.org/ - http://www.buzzflash.com/ - http://democracynow.org/ - http://www.commondreams.org/
Many of these and other Internet news sources have free E-Mail subscriptions, but we definitely recommend the one from Truthout.org, which is available from their Home Page. You might not want to read all of their bulletins, but the headlines and the opening sentences are timely and often very enlightening.

 Our 1830's brick residence was converted "back to wood heat" in 2007: no more horrendous fuel oil bills!
Our old Maine house - shown in the background, here: http://wiscasset.nnei.net/artcraft/fotopg1.htm - became too much for us to handle during Winter, so we returned to wood heat, which is what the many fireplaces were for, originally. We purchased a 'Fireview' soapstone stove from The Woodstock Stove Co. of NH ... and it exceeded our expectations, which is why we are adding it to the list of ARTCRAFT Recommendations. The stove is solid soapstone - not a veneer - and heats 80% of our house on two floors. Both halls are warmer than they ever were with the oil furnace system turned up to maximum. The 'Fireview' fits into the historic décor of our building, used both as a residence and for the ARTCRAFT Studio. If you are considering wood heat, look no farther than this beautifully constructed product. There is no black smoke coming from our chimney, produced by this wonderful soapstone stove; it features a catalytic combustor which makes for highly efficient wood burning. Their Web page for the 'Fireview' is - http://www.woodstove.com/pages/wood_stove_fireview.html  During cold weather we've never been so warm, before!

We also recommend "the cleaning elixir" from Dr. Bronner's soaps: SAL SUDS
Many of you probably know about and have purchased the organic soaps from Dr. Bronner's, but we want to draw your attention to their superlative cleaner, SAL SUDS. We use it for dishes, laundry, household cleaning - even RV (Camper) exteriors and car washing! You can read more about SAL SUDS from their site.  Check it out! http://www.drbronner.com/drb_index.html (Enter and from there, use Search for SAL SUDS!)

Are you camping on the Coast of Maine? There's only ONE place which has an unspoiled, idyllic natural setting:
SEARSPORT SHORES CAMPING
Judged by the authoritative New England Camping Guide
#1 RV Campground in Maine
#1 Tent Campground in Maine
#1 Most Beautiful Campground in Maine
Check out the SEARSPORT SHORES Website, here: http://www.campocean.com/
If you love Dutch street organ music ... the BEST recording we've heard is produced right here in Maine!
The star attraction for us was the presence of the Elbert Pluer 64-key Dutch organ, at the 2007 Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine. Linda and Kevin Sheehan not only played their beautifully-voiced organ - running on folding "books" and powered with a 'hand crank/flywheel' system - but they also offered superlative CDs of this instrument, constructed in 2002. The builder came to the States for the final pipe voicing, so their organ is beyond anything you've probably heard at organ rallies or on the streets of Amsterdam. The recording includes NOLA, FEED THE BIRDS from Mary Poppins, SECOND WALTZ by Shostokovich, COPENHAGEN and a host of arrangements that will captivate any listener. The recordings of "Das Eichhörnchen" (The Squirrel) can be ordered directly from the publishers at $15.00 each + $5.00 shipping (in the States) for 1-6 discs. Write:
 Linda & Kevin Sheehan
335 Anderson Road
    Sebago ME 04029 USA
207-787-3698
mailto:engineboy@roadrunner.com


ARTCRAFT Music Rolls, PO Box 295, Wiscasset, Maine 04578 USA — Telephone: (207) 882-7420  or (207) 631-1761
L. Douglas Henderson, Prop.