A masterpiece for Mastertouch

The Mastertouch Piano Roll Company was established in 1919 in Sydney and manufactured and sold piano rolls until its closure on 1 July 2005. When it closed it was also one of only two remaining large scale piano roll manufacturers in the world, the other being QRS in the USA. It was the only one to maintain a traditional method of manufacture giving it international significance. I can remember visiting Mastertouch and watching the production. It was fascinating.

When one of our closest friends, Graham, died of AIDS in 1992 at the age of 40, we inherited a number of his pianola rolls. He had had a vast collection and, as a hobby, he used to rebuild pianolas. We bought, and still enjoy, our own pianola in Graham's memory.

Some years later a friend and colleague came to stay and noticed that we had nowhere to house our rolls. We had tried many times to buy a traditional pianola roll cabinet but they were scarce. They were beautiful pieces and were often made with stained glass doors. This friend was studying cabinet making as a hobby. She was a very senior executive in the Department of Community Services. It was a very stressful job dealing with people whose lives were very troubled. She often had to make decisions about whether children should remain with their parents. Her cabinet making was her escape. Anyway, she offered to make us a pianola roll cabinet. All we had to do was pay for the timber - American walnut.

The photo is of her much loved masterpiece. It is all hand made. The first extra shows it with doors open. What is not always immediately obvious is that the shelves are of varying heights to accommodate the different size boxes. You might be able to see that in the second extra.

Clare's home for our Mastertouch rolls is, indeed, a masterpiece and a complete one-off. We are privileged.