Robbie wrote [following the article by Spencer Chase in MMD 980216]:

>[ Peter's improvement is in the musical performance, which he is
>[ creating by establishing the Theme level himself.  His system is
>[ not an improvement of the technology.  I think he has trained
>[ himself to emulate the action of the spill valve, however, and
>[ so his foot-pumped performance should match that of a "full"
>[ Duo-Art system quite well.  Perhaps he might provide a sample
>[ on cassette tape.  ;)  -- Robbie

What Robbie says is right, except the theme does control itself just
like the accompaniment does.  My understanding of the spill valve is
that it opens at lower playing levels, and this is emulated by the feet
(perhaps more by feel than actually watching the roll codings).
I don't claim that this setup is as good as a properly setup full
electric Duo-Art, but it does sound (to my ears, anyway) the same as
others I have heard.

Full electric Duo-Art's are not all that common here; I have been
looking for an unrestored one for over a year but have not seen even
one for sale.

I did restore mine to the Half Duo-Art before it was modified so I
know that having the second half working made a massive difference
to the sound.  That's what's important to me.  Music is a very
subjective thing and to my ears this Duo-Art sounds the same as the
audio recordings that I have, so I am happy.  If and when I get a
electric pump for it, unless I come across another electric one first,
I will definitely add a spill valve.

Attached is a photo of the expression box.  Musically, I have taped
it before but I need better sound recording equipment as it didn't
sound the same as live.

Peter Coggins
Australia

 [ I'll ask Jody to place the photo in /Pictures as "Duo-Art Expression
 [ Box in converted foot-pumped Themodist", or the like.  -- Robbie

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