My name is Bob Fitterman. I just joined the group and at Jody's
suggestion I am writing this introduction.

I have always had a passion for mechanical devices. I've accumulated a
selected assortment of old office equipment and cameras. I played the
piano from a young age and have a fond memory of my first exposure to a
player piano.

About 15 years ago, someone filled me in on reproducing pianos, and I
decided that I would eventually own one. Lack of space in my apartment
kept me having any piano for many years, so when I finally had the
space and money, I faced a new quandary: the Disklavier was around and
I liked the idea of being able to record performances. I gave in and
bought an upright Disklavier.

I'm relatively happy with the Disklavier although I've discovered some
of the holes in the technology. Perhaps I should say there aren't any
holes -- and I'm beginning to suspect that pneumatic technology has
some benefits over what the Disklavier has to offer. Not everything a
human plays into a Disklavier plays back properly, and that includes
some commercial recordings sold by Yamaha, I am sad to say.

It was through the Disklavier User's Group (DUG) mailing list that I
found MMD. Larry Kellogg posted a portion of Mark Fontana's Pianocorder
article on the DUG list with a plea to Yamaha to help with the release
process. I suspect it's fallen on deaf ears, but the benefit is that I
found MMD.

That posting got me searching and I found the MMD archives. I've spent
most of the last two days (don't tell my boss) reading through the
archives and what a treasure they are! I think this forum is especially
attractive because it is moderated.

My interests in mechanical music are all over the map, but one of my
key interests is in the recovery of "trapped" performances. I am
saddened to think that there are rolls, discs (spelled either way),
etc. out there collecting dust because the instrument for which they
were designed no longer exists, or the media and the device are
separated. Thinking about this process and what can be done to help
with it has captured my imagination. My professional background is in
software and that has influenced my approach to the problem.

More than enough said! I'm delighted I found this group and I look
forward to learning from it and sharing our common interests.

Bob Fitterman¶
bobf@ilx.com