Robin Pratt's Resignation
By Thomas Henden
Dear Robin Pratt!
It was sad to hear You leaving the list.
As a radiography student (Yes, we take the X-rays at the hospitals), film (movie), and of course automatic music interested, I have the following to say:
I am also that kind of person that originally has a severe antipathy to anything digital, or artificial if one may say so.
I prefer to play LP recordings instead of CD's, and I prefer to record any home movie on super 8mm (Unluckily some years ago now) instead of videotape. I also prefer to make X-rays via analogue technics, not digital, (although the convenience by diagnosing the patients fast are much more important, than the nostalgic feelings here)
In short, I like all technique that gives us real performances, not pretended or electronic. If You listen to a player piano, the sound is really coming from a piano, not via some loudspeakers.
I am by heart understanding Your feelings about this, but we have to admit that the new modern technology will be introduced in all these different places.
One may feel the danger that this will take over just about anything, but because of the realness, warmness, high artistic performance (1) and in many cases excellent quality, old technology will survive.
(1) Compare the wood-work, and finish of an old lovely piano, compared with some black plastic, or even metallic (GTI car-style) finish of a modern keyboard.
Although keyboards have been good at imitating pianos in many years now, people still wants to listen to a real piano, (OK, mostly a recording of it :-) ) not a digital Roland keyboard.
My prediction is that we will enjoy analogue instruments (self playing or not) into the next year thousand, because of their quality, and we are many on the list interested in just that part.
The modern technology can even be manipulated to work for, not against us 'fundamentalists' :
Like someone has discussed (and done!), we may use the modern technology, to scan old rolls as exactly as possible, not just to convert them to a disk-klavier player, but to reproduce them on new paper to preserve the original recordings in a original manner, that means as holes in a paper roll. As someone on the list said; that the paper in the rolls are near its living time, and had to be replaced by making an exact copy by scanning. We also have to admit, that in some time it will be impossible to play the original rolls without destroying them, because of the papers destructibility.
In near future, it' ll even be possible to play a tune on your player by playing with Your hands, just after that, hearing the perforator spit out Your play, (in the neighbour room) and play it back again, using your reproducer, or pumper, guided by an automatically added volume line on the paper, or performance holes on the sides.
Doesn't this sound exciting?
Welcome back Robin Pratt!
Sincerely student Thomas Henden from Norway
(My apologies for possible poor language, please be understanding :-) )
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(Message sent Fri 24 May 1996, 11:30:54 GMT, from time zone GMT+0200.) |
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