Mark Van Essen writes of the Red River on 4.16.97:

> Some of you have been asking about the flooding up here.
> It's getting ugly.

Let me tell you Mark, it isn't much prettier here on the Big Sioux River
in South Dakota =8-O  Luckily my pianos are on the second floor :-)

Speaking of which, I'm looking for guidance (read: education) on digital
reproducers.  I purchased one of the new Knabe PianoDisc systems the
other night.  I was concerned about the piano being built by Young Chang,
but I dug into the piano for hours checking out quality, and was suitably
impressed by the adapted design.  I opted for the PianoDisc system because
of their flexibility in playing the midi discs for Disklavier and
Pianomation (but also because I thought it would look neat to have the
PianoDisc Knabe sitting next to my Ampico Knabe :-)

So I have taken my first steps into modern reproducers.  I have been
rebuilding Players and Reproducers for years, and have a very large
collection of rolls at my disposal, but have no background in the new
systems...  any suggestions?  (please, no can't teach an old dog new
tricks comments :-)

I was intrigued by the Pianomation system as well as the PianoDisc
system, and toyed with the idea of installing one of them on an older
piano.  I've been thinking about adapting one to a DuoArt or Ampico based
reproducer, and transcribing rolls by playing the pneumatic system to
drive the digital system.  Is this a ludicrous idea? or has anyone else
tried it?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.  TIA,

Scott Currier