If you are considering placing your Hardman Duo in a public place,
be prepared for a surprise -- at least 95% of the public cannot carry
a tune in a basket!

We people of MMD, are different.  We probably represent about 2% or
less of the public.  We sincerely appreciate mechanical music, and most
of us know of the workings involved within the cases of our favorite
player instruments.  Unfortunately, the majority of the public does not
share our interest and enthusiasm.

The first response you will receive is: "The music is too loud."

People go to a restaurant to socialize.  That means talking.  If the
music is the least bit loud, you will receive complaints.  As for
selection of tunes, you can play *anything*.  The public does not care,
nor do they listen.

In our area, we have two fine restaurants.  Each of them has an
expensive modern electronic player.  These pianos are turned down so
low, they are a disgrace!  They sound like a pneumatically operated
piano with worn-out bellows!  Many notes drop out, giving a faint
clanking sound of "something" playing in the background, but what?
The worst part is the pianos are so far out-of-tune the music, even
if played at actual volume, is a not good.

To prove a point (I have mentioned this before) I went around the
restaurant, asking patrons what they thought about piano music.  Many
said "Nice," and quickly went back to their conversations.  When
I asked the restaurant owner about the tuning of the piano, he had
no idea if the piano was ever tuned.  "Sounds fine to me," he said.

If you value your Hardman Duo, I would suggest you have a thick water-
proof cover made for it, that can be locked in place.  Public places
are very rough on pianos.  Things get spilled into it and on it, and
things get banged into it.  People think it is great fun to bang on the
keys.  I actually saw a guy with a plaster cast on his arm, banging the
plaster cast on the keys of a very valuable piano placed in a public
area.  There will always be those who want to pump a roll sixteen times
as fast as it is supposed to be played.

I recall a very nice Ampico grand moved to a very nice restaurant.
The owner of the restaurant thought that two nice candelabras on the
piano would look nice.  They probably did look nice, but the wax from
the candles dripped down into the piano action, covering the tuning
pins, strings, and hammers.  Someone thought it was great fun to use
a dinner fork to poke holes in the rolls as they played, and lastly
someone thought the drawer would make a good bench to sit on, and broke
it right off the piano.

Like a dog,  your piano will age seven years for each year it is placed
in a public place.

While your piano might initially draw some interest, I feel that the
satisfaction derived from it would quickly dwindle.  Sadly, an inexpen-
sive portable cassette player would draw about the same amount of
appreciation from the public in a public place

Bruce Clark