John,  I feel you missed my criticism on solenoid player music.  You
attribute me with saying that I blame the general public for their lack
of demand.  If you reread my comments, I think you'll discover that I
criticize the manufacturers of the music for their misunderstanding of
the market they are serving.  I have sent many e-mails to them complaining
about their shortsightedness in addressing this market.

The pneumatic reproducers and the solenoid pianos are admittedly
different creatures.  They each have their pluses and minuses.  Solenoids
cannot repeat quite as well as the pneumatics, but for most music they
are more than usable.  The pneumatic pianos  do have a slightly broader
range of expression and repetition, but they also add a disturbing range
of background noise from their motor and pumps.  I must admit that the
solenoid pianos don't do the amusing little hula dance that the
six-legged wonders do though ;-)

Face it: collectors will be tinkering with these new pianos some day,
just as we are seeing the Pianocorder units needing serious attention
now.

Regards,

Scott Currier