Yes, I am a pneumatic piano lover.  No, I do not make my living
selling or servicing pneumatic instruments.  Yes, I own close to forty
pneumatic operated pianos and several Mills Violanos in a collection
that is not for sale.  Yes, I believe in the Yamaha Disklavier.  The
comments in the MMD that are against the Disklavier have all come from
lovers of the pneumatic instrument.

Go to a Yamaha dealership and listen to a Disklavier play "Sing Sing
Sing".  No Ampico, Duo-Art, or other player operated by air can touch
it.  Does the solenoid piano suffer from changes in the weather every
year or get weaker as time passes?  No, the solenoid piano performs
beautifully no matter what the weather.  Can a Disklavier play with
the power of an Ampico or Duo-Art?  Yes.  Does it play like this on
a normal basis in your home?  No.

Each different size piano that the Disklavier is installed in has
different size solenoids.  The larger the grand piano, the larger the
solenoids.  The limits of the volume are set by the software or the
wonderful volume control on the front panel.  It can be set to barely
move a key and not play the note.  It can move the sustain pedal to
any point that it was depressed while recording was taking place.
The Ampico sure cannot do that feature.  The Duo-Art cannot accomplish
this feat.

Does every Ampico or Duo-Art that you see play the roll the exactly
the same way as the piano before it?  No, there is always a little
difference depending on who restored the player or the piano.  Can
every Yamaha Disklavier play the music data file the same as the one
next to it?  Yes.  Can you make your own recordings on an Ampico or
Duo-Art?  No.

Yamaha has a very nice classical selection for the Disklavier.  Can
an Ampico or Duo-Art analyze the performance against what the roll or
software tells the piano it is supposed to be playing?  No, but the
Yamaha can.  Can the Ampico or Duo-Art tell you if a note is not
playing as it should, or can the Ampico or Duo-Art self regulate itself
so each and every note plays the same loudness if given the same
information such as play this note with so or so intensity?  Yamaha
can.

Yamaha isn't the only provider of music diskettes.  Look into the
Disklavier music files by Invisible Touch or by Wayne Stahnke
Associates (tel.: 1-800-628-2584).  There are also other third party
music suppliers.  Yes, you can find super live performances by living
pianists as well as player piano rolls transcribed.

Yamaha pianos are used in more concerts, recordings, television
performances than any other piano.  They are good pianos backed by a
company that backs their product.  I have seen Yamaha go way past the
extra mile to satisfy the customer.  No other company I have ever dealt
with could come close to giving the service that they have given the
customer.  No other solenoid player can do what the Disklavier can.
It is the most sophisticated player system available.

Past MMD articles have mentioned that people have heard Disklaviers
in public places that didn't perform to their expectations.  I have
seen a large number of coin-operated pneumatic player pianos that
performed with horrible results.  That is why you do not see them at
two of the best known theme parks anymore.  The KT Special from Disney
is in my collection and it really needs some TLC.

I am sure that you will see solenoid operated pianos in public places
that are in poor condition because, once they are sold to someone, the
dealer that sold it no longer maintains the piano; he leaves that
responsibility up to the new owner.  Several casinos in this area have
Disklavier pianos that are almost never maintained.  They have been
moved all over the casino: up and down off stages and into storage
rooms, and they have nicks and bangs all over them.  Should the dealer
that sold them be responsible for the damage and resulting musical
performance?

Don Teach