I am very saddened to hear of Spencer's death. He was a remarkable
man with an intellect which could be applied to solving any problem.
He wasn't an engineer but had an engineer's mind and a workshop to
match.

I believe he was actually trained as a cartographer. Most of the things
he was able to do, from fabrication, electronics, programming to 3D
printing, were amazing.

Spencer was one of the early pioneers of piano roll scanning. He
designed his own scanner, scanned more than 5,000 rolls and made them
available to the world. He also designed and sold his own solenoid
player system for pianos.

The software utilities he has written for manipulating MIDI files and
made available for free on his website are wonderful and I use them
regularly. I hope someone with the skills necessary will put up his
or her hand to manage the website into the future. I, and I'm sure
many others, will be happy to contribute to the small costs of keeping
this legacy alive.

I first came across Spencer after attempting to use his Lyric Adder
software on his website. This was software designed to insert lyrics
into a MIDI file that would display on a computer screen when the MIDI
file was played -- an early karaoke system, if you like. It wasn't
very user-friendly so I called him to seek some advice. Thereafter a
collaboration commenced with Spencer to make the software more usable.
Spencer did the programming and my role was just to test it, make
suggestions and create the Help file. It is on his website today and
begs for users. It works very well but with a bit of a learning curve.

In more recent years, Spencer was excited to find some software
produced in China using AI which could listen to an audio recording
of a piano and produce a MIDI file. Unfortunately, the software had
a few flaws. Spencer set about improving the resultant MIDI file to
produce more pleasing results. This led to another major collaboration
with Spencer and we produced some software to do just that.

Again, I was just the tester, etc., but I did get the opportunity to
demonstrate the software at the AMICA convention in Los Angeles in
2024. He was able to switch his mind from this project to his other
projects, such as his laser roll cutter and 3D printing without missing
a beat -- all the while taking strong pain killers to ease the pain
from his cancer.

In July 2024, I spent some time with him and his partner at their home
in Garberville, California. It was a real insight into the man and how
he lived and worked. He would frequently work at a bench in his bedroom
into the early hours just to solve a problem that was bugging him.

I spoke with him a couple of weeks ago and he said in concluding that
this will be the last time we speak.  He knew his time was near.  He
hadn't lost his sarcastic wit and faced the end stoicly.

The world has lost a generous, genius of a man and I have lost a friend.

Geoff Ward
Sydney