The Concertola Ten Roll Automatic Changer
It appears as if the first Concertola was sold in the 1928 or 1929 period.
This highly complex machine could be attached to any electro pneumatic pipe
organ. Once attached, the organ became a fully automatic Duo Art player
pipe organ.
Ten Duo Art rolls could be loaded into the Ferris Wheel like drum.
Each drum position had a number which corresponded to a number on a remote
control. The remote control had a push button for each
roll and several other control buttons. Pushing any roll button caused
the drum to rotate to that roll position, and load the roll into playing
position. As the roll loaded, special perforations set the tempo.
Shortly after the tempo was set, the organ responded to holes setting
the stops and swell shades in preparation of the the music perforations which
followed. The composition was played with full expression and all stop
changes. When the music ended, the roll rewound and secured itself
within the drum. At that point, if continuous play had been selected,
the next roll in the drum would load and play. Otherwise, the
machine would shut off.
The remote control could be placed almost anywhere the patron chose.
In some cases, multiple controls were placed throughout the home.
The complexity of the Concertola was its downfall. Few technicians
understood it. Additionally, minor malfunctions occur with some frequency
which usually damages or destroys the fragile paper roll..
No one knows just how many of these machines were sold. Very few survive
today and probably less than twenty still operate reliably..
John D. Rockefeller bought Concertola #232 in 1929 for $3,500. Later
his sister Alta Rockefeller Prentice took possession of the machine when
the organ was moved to her townhouse. Alta was a major patron to Archer
Gibson. Before she died, she gave the Concertola to Johnston Stewart
in memory of Archer Gibson.
home Conertola Pictured without case