Robbie Rhodes, MMD, said in 130820 MMDigest:

>[ An interesting research article, published a few days ago in
>[ the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA,
>[ concludes that the audience is influenced more by the visual aspects
>[ of the performer than by the music that the performer produces. ...
>[ Maybe this means that audiences at mechanical music concerts will
>[ prefer instruments with exciting visual effects!

Ain't no "maybe" about it when it comes to getting attention, although
"preferring" may be a bit different.  Any visible movement on or
associated with a mechanical instrument increases public attention.
This includes being able to see a roll move and the motion of key
hammers or other beaters.

I have been playing a John Smith Senior 20 in public for about seven
years now.  The little "conductor" on the front (a clown) regularly
gets attention: "Hey Mom, look!  It moves!"  Animated animals, such
as my tin-cup-banging-monkey also increase contact with your audience,
as well as helping answer the "Where's your monkey?" wisecracks.

I have found that singing, or just moving my mouth as if I was singing,
and moving as if I was dancing also increase people's notice of the
music.  Static presentation is fine at home, but makes your instrument
little more than a "loud speaker" in public situations.

If you are playing "for the public" you should be "playing _to_ the
public" -- putting on a show.

Wallace Venable