Dear Bette Largent,  I believe that the Ruth and Sohn at the Santa Cruz
Beach and Boardwalk in California was converted to MIDI approximately
five years ago during it's $25,000 restoration.   Here's the URL to that
carousel web site:

    http://www.beachboardwalk.com/rides/looff

On my last visit to see it and the Looff carousel I stood on my tip-
toes and peered through the glass as best I could, and it appeared that
neither roll frame was operating.

I've been coming to the Boardwalk since I was old enough to remember,
(I live in Seaside, CA), and I always forced my parents to stay longer
than they would have liked so that I could watch the organ play.  Some
years ago, (in the 'sixties), the organ roll frames could be easily
seen by the public.

They moved the instrument to another wall, (I hope I'm remembering this
correctly as I was only five or six at the time), put a small fence in
front of it to keep the public back a few feet and enclosed it in such
a way as to cover much of the sound and details.

As I stood watching it on a recent visit a woman turned to me and asked
if it was really playing or just a recording.  For a moment I thought,
"How sad that the sound and the visual experience had been muted to
that point."  It also occurs to me that they may have enclosed the
instrument to better protect it from the ocean environment.

One last thought, neither me or my wife recognized any of the
music playing.  I admit that we are not as educated in these matters
like others in the MMD group, (okay, I don't know anything), but it
still would have been nice to have heard some known music (American
marches, etc.).  The politics of that area are rather strange,
which might account for this.

If you're interested it might be possible for me to send you some JPEG
images of the instrument and carousel.  Let me know.

Sincerely,
James Perkins

 [ MMDer Rocci Cirone, in MMDigest 970722, wrote that the organ
 [ sounded pretty nice behind the glass wall.  But then he said,
 [ "Just don't buy the cassette tape they sell -- it was recorded
 [ before a bunch of locals volunteered to completely rebuild the poor
 [ ol' Ruth.  In the recording the organ is quite a bit out of tune and
 [ poorly balanced."
 [
 [ This confuses me: was the Ruth organ properly rebuilt and does it
 [ play today,  or is a recording now providing the music?  -- Robbie