[ Noteur Tom Meijer wrote on this subject in 001001 MMDigest ]

Hello!  I know it is a complete no-no to do so, but actually I would
have to send all of Tom's posting back with something like "Me too!"
or "Right so!" or "Hear hear!" underneath.

As someone who also is interested in electronics, it is amazing what
we can do to our mechanical instruments these days, and I even know
myself that already I made comments and argumentations to a couple of
people which not really are compatible "in itself".

There is no doubt that also I wish I could have aaaaalll the music,
and could take them aaaalll along with me, but I can't do so with books
or rolls.

How many times I have had to tell my audience, "Oh, too bad, I have
a very nice version of the tune you ask for, but -- what a pity --
I had no space for it or just didn't expected it to be requested at
the exact location/time/event."

Still, as close as you might get (and perhaps you even might imitate
the clicking sounds of the keyframe), book music will still be book
music, and it will be much more impressive than "Oh, it's just another
computer".

Always, since computers have become more accessible to normal people,
we started to compare our organs to computers in ways that -- what a
coincidence -- nowadays get realized for mechanical music instruments
(although one should call it now hybrid Instruments, as electronics is
mixed with mechanics).  Like, for example, the floppy disc instead of
the music book, and the floppy drive instead of the keyframe.

But the key point still, at least for me, is to be able to say that
it is possible to make music without batteries, and you still have an
early "music computer" based on pneumatics and mechanics only.

And also, as much as most of the points mentioned are very positive for
specialists like Tom Meijer, who have to keep on and keep on producing
music for all of us (and of course we'd like to get all those rolls
yesterday already, right?), but the same points have that negative
taste too.

You miss the puzzling work with pencil and cardboard, and also every
time you miss that exciting moment of listening to a complete book for
the first time, without any previous checks:  Is it as good as I
wanted?  Or have I worked so long and hard just to waste a couple of
meters of cardboard (although by gaining quite a bit of experience,
of course)?

The same puzzlement exists on the computer, but one gets moved out
from being "inside" the music, which is still the source for the best
and newest variations and improvisations as never heard before.

And if we all give up, then at least I want to see the piano-roll
display rolling by on an LCD Display on top of the organ ;-))))

(Is that idea still free for copyright?  Or did already someone already
have the idea?  :-))

greetings by(e) InK - Ingmar Krause
ERlanger drehORGEL-Trio, Familie Krause, erorgelt@erlangen.franken.de

 [ In 1985 I tried to cram the little Macintosh Classic computer
 [ into my piano but it was simply too deep.  So while the Vorsetzer
 [ wiggled the keys, the computer rested atop the piano.  Nowadays one
 [ might replace the sliding door covering the spool box with a thin
 [ color display.  I think Andy Taylor finally did this.  ;)  -- Robbie