A highly-placed source at QRS informed me today that they have stopped
the manufacture of Pianocorder System cassettes.  Once existing stock
has been exhausted, there will be no more made.

We will continue to manufacture our MC-2 MIDI Converters that enable
Pianocorder Systems to respond to any suitable MIDI programs from
whatever source -- micro-floppies or CDs -- provided the appropriate
hardware is used to play those programs.

We still offer Yamaha disk drives and QRS Pianomation CD/keyboard
interfaces, and all Pianocorder System components.

My source at QRS referred to the significant rate of rejection of
new cassettes as one important reason for their discontinuation of
new production.

Another advantage of converting Pianocorder Systems to MIDI operation
is the availability of much newer music found on Disklavier
micro-floppies and on QRS Pianomation CDs.  Pianomation CDs offer
some excellent programs in a format which any standard CD changer can
handle.  Of course, the analog MIDI data which comes from a CD changer
must be converted back into standard MIDI via the CD/Keyboard
Interface.

I suppose that the discontinuation of the manufacture of Pianocorder
System cassettes was predictable since this magnetic medium is quite
dated.  With the advent of DVDs and Smart Memory chips, it won't be
long before CDs will be obsolete.  The pace of technological
development of storage media is amazing!

We have recently developed a new version of the MC-2 called the MC-2
CD which does away with the original Pianocorder System tape deck
entirely.  The MC-2 CD incorporates a CD/keyboard interface so that
it can handle Pianomation-MIDI CD analog MIDI data directly from any
suitable CD changer and operate any Pianocorder System from
Pianomation-MIDI CDs, either solo or "orchestrated" CDs.  Of course,
"orchestrated" CDs require the addition of a suitable monophonic sound
system for playback of the "orchestrated" CD's right audio channel.

Regards,
Bob Baker