Mills Violano Virtuoso Tracker Bar Data
Author: David Back, May 2015 - Updated April 2024.
This data was collected from various sources. It has been tested by correctly playing a violano e-roll.Violano e-rolls have no midi offset.
Roll
14.25" wide with holes splaced 0.11428"Tuning
Tuning A = 435Hz, the Factory Standard.Data
Tracker Midi Finger String Data Hole Note 0 Coin Drop 1 Vanish, very slow bow 2 Bow Action, very fast bow 3 Staccato, bow leaves strings 4 Rolls < 1750 Tremolo. Later rolls: activates rosin relay 5 Loud, bow fast 6 74 12 D Next Lowest 7 69 7 8 64 2 9 71 9 10 66 4 11 73 11 12 68 6 13 63 1 14 70 8 15 65 3 16 72 10 17 67 5 18 62 Open 19 Reverse (Rewind) 20 Soft, bow slow 21 76 Open E Highest 22 83 7 23 78 2 24 85 9 25 80 4 26 87 11 27 82 6 28 77 1 29 84 8 30 79 3 31 86 10 32 81 5 33 88 12 34 95 19 35 90 14 36 97 21 37 92 16 38 98 22 39 94 18 40 89 13 41 96 20 42 91 15 43 93 17 44 Very Early: Piano soft bypass resistor active. Later: Soft hammer rail solenoid. 45 55 Open G Lowest 46 62 7 2 Wire 47 57 2 48 64 9 49 59 4 50 66 11 51 61 6 52 56 1 53 63 8 54 58 3 55 65 10 56 60 5 57 67 12 58 Very Early: Piano loud relay active. Later: Loud hammer rail solenoid. 59 81 12 A Next Highest 60 76 7 2 Wire 61 71 2 62 78 9 63 73 4 64 80 11 65 75 6 66 70 1 67 77 8 68 72 3 69 79 10 70 74 5 71 82 13 72 69 Open 73 83 14 74 Rolls > 1750 Tremolo. Earlier rolls use 4 75 Auto Cut Off (End of Tune) 76 41 Piano 44 Notes in Order, Low F to High C 77 42 78 43 79 44 80 45 81 46 82 47 83 48 84 49 85 50 86 51 87 52 88 53 89 54 90 55 91 56 92 57 93 58 94 59 95 60 96 61 97 62 98 63 99 64 100 65 101 66 102 67 103 68 104 69 105 70 106 71 107 72 108 73 109 74 110 75 111 76 112 77 113 78 114 79 115 80 116 81 117 82 118 83 119 84 120 Old rolls only, Piano Accent 121 Sustain pedal on, Damper lifted 122 Very Soft hammer rail solenoid (if present). 123 Damper OnNOTES:
1. Staccato: This is a very brief signal to terminate the current playing violin notes from the start of this signal and for the duration of this signal. (While applied it lifts the bow wheels from the strings).
2. Tremolo: This has to be turned on in short bursts as otherwise it will weaken the paper roll. Many of the later rolls do not use it at all. Usually it is permanently engaged by users.
3. Violin bowing default: There are 5 levels of bowing pressure 1..5. The default pressure is level 3.
4. Rosin relay: Early Violanos automatically applied rosin on rewind. For later models , rosin was applied while playing when signalled by the rosin relay.
5. Piano Accent and Piano Mute: Early violanos only. Piano accent is active on and off all the time an early roll is playing and is believed to be the early implementation of the systain pedal. Piano Mute is just a brief signal which is assumed turns the piano off.(Still under investigation).
6. Piano Loud and Piano Soft (Very Early violanos only): Piano loud activates a relay which applies maximum current to the piano note magnets. Piano soft bypassed some of the magnet current and produced a softer note. When neither is activated a medium current is applied (the default). It is doubtful if this method was ever successful.
7. Piano Loud and Piano Soft (Hammer Rail Control): The Hammer Rail solenoid (58) moves the hammer rail to the loud position or Hammer Rail solenoid (44) moves the hammer rail to the soft position. If present, Hammer rail solenoid (122) moves the hammer rail to the very soft position. The hammer rail stays in the position it has been moved to until moved again. Rolls generally set the hammer rail to the loud position at the end of a tune. The very soft position is very rarely (if ever) used.