With this solution it is possible to convert organ rolls of crank organs up until 32 keys with any scale into midi files! The rolls are read with a scanner that is connected to the usb port of the computer. The music can be played during the scanning process so the end result can be judged directly. The scanner consists of a transport mechanism to transport the paper from one spool to the other and a web cam that 'reads' the roll. The whole pattern of the organ roll is converted into music with the use of image recognition techniques. The scanner application is extensively adjustable so this solution is suitable for reading a wide range of organ rolls.

The transport mechanism
The hardware is kept as simple as possible. All complicated issues are solved in the software. This concept offers a lot of advantages and it's easy to make changes or add features later on. The hardware consists out of a transport mechanism that transports the paper from one roll to the other and a camera that 'reads' the organ roll. A webcam that can be connected to the usb-port of the pc is used for the camera. The camera is mounted above the organ roll so the largest part of the camera image is covered by the organ roll. It's no problem that the camera can move a bit compared to the organ roll because the software detects the precise direction of the organ roll. The organ roll runs across a black surface to get maximum contrast. This enhances the quality of the final Midi file. The transport mechanism can be build with a manual crank or automatically with an electric motor. The manual transport mechanism works very well though because the software measures and compensates the roll speed. This way the speed of the music in the midi file will always be right and it's not necessary to turn the crank with a constant speed.

The build instructions for the transport mechanism
The transport mechanism cannot be ordered at Dirk's Projects yet. You can download the build instructions so you can easily build the transport mechanism yourself. Push on the button 'Build Instructions' on the top of this page for this. If you have built the transport mechanism then you can use the trial version of the organ roll scanner to test the transport mechanism. It is not possible to save the Midi file with the trial version. You can download the trial version with the button 'Download' on the top of this page.

System requirements
The Organ Roll Scanner runs on machines starting from the Pentium II 1 GHz. The Organ Roll Scanner runs on Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP and uses a webcam. The webcam can be any DirectX supported webcam that supports a resolution of 320 x 240. The Organ Roll Scanner requires DirectX version 9 or higher.

An overview of this tuner's features
• Read organ rolls easily and quickly and save them as a Midi file.
• Read organ rolls with a webcam. This makes the hardware very easy.
• Read organ rolls up to 32 tracks.
• The set of notes on the organ roll is freely configurable.
• The paper speed is detected by the webcam and corrected in the Midi file.
• The music is directly played during scanning.
• The position of the paper is detected by the webcam.