Dear Robin Pratt!

It was sad to hear You leaving the list.

As a radiography student (Yes, we take the X-rays at the hospitals),
film (movie), and of course automatic music interested, I have the
following to say:

I am also that kind of person that originally has a severe antipathy to
anything digital, or artificial if one may say so.

I prefer to play LP recordings instead of CD's, and I prefer to record
any home movie on super 8mm (Unluckily some years ago now) instead of
videotape.  I also prefer to make X-rays via analogue technics, not
digital, (although the convenience by diagnosing the patients fast are
much more important, than the nostalgic feelings here)

In short, I like all technique that gives us real performances, not
pretended or electronic.  If You listen to a player piano, the sound is
really coming from a piano, not via some loudspeakers.

I am by heart understanding Your feelings about this, but we have to
admit that the new modern technology will be introduced in all these
different places.

One may feel the danger that this will take over just about anything,
but because of the realness, warmness, high artistic performance (1)
and in many cases excellent quality, old technology will survive.

(1) Compare the wood-work, and finish of an old lovely piano, compared
with some black plastic, or even metallic (GTI car-style) finish of a
modern keyboard.

Although keyboards have been good at imitating pianos in many years
now, people still wants to listen to a real piano, (OK, mostly a
recording of it :-) ) not a digital Roland keyboard.

My prediction is that we will enjoy analogue instruments (self playing
or not) into the next year thousand, because of their quality, and we
are many on the list interested in just that part.

The modern technology can even be manipulated to work for, not
against us  'fundamentalists' :

Like someone has discussed (and done!), we may use the modern
technology, to scan old rolls as exactly as possible, not just to
convert them to a disk-klavier player, but to reproduce them on new
paper to preserve the original recordings in a original manner, that
means as holes in a paper roll.  As someone on the list said; that the
paper in the rolls are near its living time, and had to be replaced by
making an exact copy by scanning.  We also have to admit, that in some
time it will be impossible to play the original rolls without
destroying them,  because of the papers destructibility.

In near future, it' ll even be possible to play a tune on your player
by playing with Your hands, just after that, hearing the perforator
spit out Your play, (in the neighbour room) and play it back again,
using your reproducer, or pumper, guided by an automatically added
volume line on the paper, or performance holes on the sides.

Doesn't this sound exciting?

Welcome back Robin Pratt!

Sincerely student Thomas Henden from Norway

(My apologies  for possible poor language, please be understanding :-) )