Tom Lear wrote in 010105 MMD:

> Problem:  When playing tapes on the Pianocorder, the stabilization
> light keeps coming on, no matter what position the adjusting wheel
> is in.

Out of curiosity, is the tape an old tape?  Cassette tape, like any
other magnetic media, suffers data loss over time.  There's a technical
term for it, but I can't recall what it is.  Imagine a punch paper roll
where the deterioration takes the form of the hole diameter getting
larger or the paper getting thinner and leaking air.  In either case,
the music produced becomes more discordant over time.  In the case of
digital information, the numbers start to add up wrong in the little
mini-computer, so it starts to complain of indigestion.

Has the information from these tapes been converted to something more
stable?  I would hate to think that we are faced with yet another
mechanical control media that is failing and not being preserved.

George Bogatko

 [ Yamaha purchased Pianocorder from Joe Tushinsky (Superscope) to
 [ eliminate competition with the Disklavier.  They attempted, with
 [ little success, to convert the Pianocorder data to Disklavier
 [ format.  QRS supplied Pianocorder cassettes to fulfill the US
 [ product support requirements; they might have copies of the master
 [ recordings.  -- Robbie