We're really getting into psychology here with some of the do's and
don'ts of playing in public.

On the matter of "The music is too loud!"  This invariably happens
if the instrument is close to where someone is doing a job requiring
concentration.

In Tunbridge Wells, we had earlier played on a bandstand in The
Pantiles, a historic pedestrian precinct with high buildings bottling
in the music.  We had a Clavinova digital piano for the pushup and
found we could play it at indoors volume.  This was not quiet enough
for the neighbouring jeweller (who obviously hated bands playing even
more) and we had to agree to five minutes of silence per hour.  Careful
experimentation showed that if we stuck to non-dynamic soft pieces, he
was not concerned.

Then there was the "Salad Days" pianola demo in the street outside the
Churchill Theatre in Bromley (SE London) where we were specially asked
-- since we only had one roll of Salad Days tunes, on Mastertouch --
to play typically 1920s pieces.  Here the setting was the edge of a
park and I had to take along a portable shelter in case of rain.

Bromley is full of retired people and the 1920s angle was a wild
success.  The park benches all filled up and we had people choosing
rolls from the boxes.  They jokingly said we had ruined their shopping
trip, because this was much more fun.

But right at the start, the theatre booking office complained: the
music was "much too loud".  This was with us about 60 feet from the
building and them at a desk inside a large glassed-in lobby.  All we
had to do here was move along the building with the installation until
they were satisfied.  So the acoustic you have is obviously critical.

At the Tunbridge Wells mall, and in the Royal Festival Hall lobby, we
were playing in a very large space with a high roof and the piano had
to be played at concert hall power with the lid up simply to carry the
music.  Nevertheless, when playing as accompaniment for eating, we do
keep the climaxes down.

On unattended instruments, always cover them.  The Tunbridge Wells
grand spent its entire time in the middle of a restaurant with a fitted
canvas cover and was left severely alone.  Yet leave a player uncovered
by itself for five minutes and someone will have a tinker with the
door, the pedals or the fallboard.

We started by buying three stanchions with velvet ropes to give a
little private space: this proved quite unnecessary if we were present,
but they would be worth considering if you're going to leave the
instrument unattended for a while.

Jim Edwards will remember what happened at his 1997 Pianola Centenary
concert at the Paramount in Aurora.  Rex Lawson and I left the pushup at
the back of the orchestra area for about four hours and this was ample
time for someone to discover it and change all the levers over -- with
the result that Rex started the 1st Mendelssohn piano concerto with an
88-note roll and the pushup set to play 65-note rolls !  We can just
about smile at that now, but oh _dear_...

Dan Wilson, London