Instrumentation: 63note Piano w/mandolin rail, 28 violin pipes, 25note xylophone,
Bass drum,Snare drum,Tympani, Chinese cymbal & Triangle.
I first saw this instrument buried behind a Wurlitzer 148 band organ at Frank Wrighter's
house over 20years ago when was fresh out of high school and beginning to learn the
craft. Mr. Brady acquired it about 8 years ago. It was converted from the 100 key Welte scale
to Helios rolls, may be as early as the 20s. My guess is that by that time, Welte
which was a maker of *classical* orchestrions for country clubs, yachts, salons of
royalty, and millionaires, was no longer (if ever) on top of the pop music scene.
Hupfield on the other hand had a wide range of music in the Helios format. In the
conversion the triangle and tympani beaters were removed and the snare drum beater
changed. I started restoration 8 years ago keeping the Helios format intact. Since then,
Mr. Brady has procured a half dozen of the Welte 110 key rolls and last year I began the
project of restoring it back to the original format and instrumentation.