I totally agree with Douglas Henderson when he says that the term
"pumper" is inappropriate for pedal players.  The word somehow conjures
up the idea that a player piano should be attacked with the feet,
whatever the consequences.

Over the years as a Pianolist the subtle art of pianola playing has
been a constant joy to me; to be able to reproduce music that I would
never have been able to play by hand has been very fulfilling.

Like Douglas I also listen a lot to recordings, either CD or LP,
to enable me to get an understanding of what I should be aiming for.
I do not think that the medium of the player piano as an interactive
instrument is at all understood generally, which is simply due to the
general public rarely hearing them played properly.

I do hope that MMD readers will go that extra mile that Douglas
recommends for the sake of a good player piano performance; the
satisfaction gained is worth every effort.  I enjoy listening to
reproducing pianos but nothing gives me greater pleasure than to sit
down and produce music that I love.

Malcolm Cole, the Player Piano Group
London.