Gary Stevenson said in MMD980527:

> The House on the Rock Museum is _art_, and it is _entertainment_
> and it means _jobs_.  Just like Six Flags, Silver Dollar City and
> Disneyland. It is not a collection of fully restored mechanical
> musical machines.
>
> I, for one, know, if wonderfully restored original instruments
> were used, as is, they would be junk in a very short time, with
> the number of plays they would get in just one season.

If the major thrust of the museum is not mechanical music, you will not
get dedication, but you may get a sensible compromise.

MOTAT (Museum of Transport & Technology) in Auckland, New Zealand, had
a coin-operated upright player piano in the 1970s which played a single
QRS roll.  This piano took a steady NZ$44 a day for the museum, some of
which was used to build up a fund for its repair, which was inevitably
necessary every four or five years.

The piano was supplied and maintained by a local enthusiast, but he was
unable to give it the attention it would have had in a dedicated
collection and it did get out of tune.  Nevertheless, in that state it
was at least representative of 90% of player pianos in their decline.
Being in close proximity to constant hordes of children on tours, its
appearance could only be described as well-weathered !


Birmingham City Museum of Science & Industry (now closing) had a very
respectable collection of MM instruments.  Their approach was quite
different.  When the collection was left to them, apart from one large
organ which was demonstrated daily, they had it all restored
carefully and then recordings were taken in optimum conditions and LP
masters made.  This was around 1966.

The instruments were then encased in a glass-sided room where no-one
could touch them and visitors could hear one roll played on each by
pressing a button under the window.  Fresh LPs were made as required,
so the sound did not deteriorate with time.  The principal criteria
were protection of the instruments and cheapness of maintenance, but
enthusiasts were allowed to have specialist evenings when instruments
would be played, although they were expected to do any work necessary
to get satisfactory results.


I would guess from most dedicated MM museums without seeing their
accounts that keeping instruments perfect is not a feasible strategy on
the money available from receipts.  Instruments have to be allowed to
decline to a point where their condition begins to reflect on the
operation as a whole -- a matter of judgement where there must be
considerable divergence of opinion -- and then restored.  The best they
can do -- as in the Rye Treasury of MM recently reported here -- is to
be frank about this process so that listeners can appreciate what is
happening.

Dan Wilson