Reading the recent discussion on the pros and cons of solenoid pianos, I
think I should make a stand in favour of electronic action.

The MIDI standard looks very much here to stay, particularly as many
PC's sold today are 'multimedia' types with soundcards and MIDI built in.
The ability for anyone in the world to transfer and edit music data
electronically in a standard format has to be a bonus to all associated
with live music making (assuming copyright issues are dealt with
sensibly).

I am not especially familiar with solenoid pianos, but what I have heard
has been quite acceptable.  Certainly for the 'wine bar background music'
type of application, a real piano has much more presence than a
recording, and electronic action in such an application would presumably
require less operator attention than a roll-playing piano.

For home use, the roll-playing upright 'pumper' is great fun, and it
would be a pity to remove the pneumatics and replace them with solenoids.
I am in agreement with Craig Brougher that a MIDI-compatible pneumatic
player would be the ideal. Indeed, it is this philosophy that led me to
produce my own MIDI converter unit to allow instruments of traditional
type to utilise all the benefits of MIDI.

In an ideal world, we could all have a pneumatic reproducing piano at
home.  In practice, we have to settle for less, and an electro-pneumatic
hybrid would seem to be a good compromise.  There may even be a bonus of
electronics : the ability to record your own music and hear it played on
your own piano.

As regards the issue of reliability and maintainability, it's true that
the supplier of an electronic action may go out of business, making the
supply of spares scarce.  The same is true, though, for many other items,
and I don't think a member of the general public would be deterred from
buying, say, a CD player just because he wouldn't be able to service it
himself if the manufacturer couldn't.

To conclude, I think the appreciation of mechanical instruments by
everyone (not just enthusiasts like us) could be given a great boost by
the incorporation of new technology, used sensibly.  It would be a great
pity if this were to not happen simply because of scepticism about the
reliability of electronic components.

John Wale,
J W Electronics.