Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound just received its latest shipment of important material for the processing of the Player Piano Project: new boxes. To provide the best security and archival conditions (like temperature control!) for our piano rolls, they will be stored at SAL3, a high-density preservation facility in Livermore, California. Patrons interested in researching particular rolls will still have access, simply contact the Archive of Recorded Sound and we will request the rolls be shipped here for you to use.

Before the rolls can make the journey to Livermore, they must first be cataloged and then processed. Our processing process includes replacing damaged roll containers with new ones, wrapping each roll in a single sheet of acid free paper, tying the roll with a linen tie, replacing broken or missing flanges when possible, and placing each roll into an acid free record storage box. For Welte-Mignon red (T-100) rolls, all rolls are stored with the pin pointing up so that the weight doesn’t damage the roll over time. An inventory of each record storage box is kept so that we can easily request the rolls later by barcode.

You can find our 700+ cataloged rolls from the Denis Condon Collection of Reproducing Rolls and Pianos in our online catalog. More records are being added everyday. Click here to see the cataloged rolls.