From a roll publisher's perspective...

Greetings, MMD subscribers.  Clubs are _not_ the solution to the
downsizing of the player field.  It's growing in foreign countries, by
the way, since half of my shipments have been export, after joining the
Internet in 1995.  (Perhaps, better schooling and/or music appreciation
classes, abroad, have something to do with this interest in players.)
Clubs mean socializing, conventions, table favours and just about
everything _but_ music.

Witness AMICA having its annual "pumper content" (wrong term, for a pedal
player, but fine for an antique fire engine!), in which the winner usually
'mugs' for the audiences and wears 'cute' costumes.  Music has little to
do with this convention event, which includes a 'put-down' term for the
Pianola, by the very nature of its title.

Going out into the world and bringing the player (or other instruments)
to the public is what counts, just as it did in the old days of the music
stores, where lunchtime 'musicales' were given, on a daily basis ... and
encouraged by the Standard Pneumatic Action (Kohler & Campbell)
enterprises.

I couldn't begin to count the people who became major collectors or who
rebuilt their family player after visiting our museum - The Musical Wonder
House, which just completed its 40th Season, this past Fall ... or heard
me perform, in a public situation.  Ditto for my concert appearances, tours
with a Ragtime orchestra, programs as a pianolist sharing the stage with
virtuoso pianists (such as Max Morath and the late Wm. Albright, among
others), and also bringing my '29 Reprotone player to fairs and sidewalk
events.

Also participated in a marathon, Boston's "First Night", in which ragtime
pianist Mark Lutton alternated with me, on the same piano for hours,
changing around approximately every 20 minutes.  Seated teenagers were
fascinated, and stayed for 3-4 pieces on the average.  What was interesting
was that they were drawn to the _sound_ of the piano, not whether it was
being played by hand or via music roll, when I was at the bench.

The day of Delcamp, Cook, Armbruster, Milne and most of the hack formula
arrangers is over, so wasting the tonality of a Mason & Hamlin grand with
a bland fox trot or dinner music is not for the future.  New rolls with
sparkle are what are needed, or remastered old arrangements, that
eliminate the 'organlike' clusters of perforations and muted expression
(if a 'reproducing' roll).

I can't keep up with the backorders, and my new releases -- perforated in
a 10 year supply, now -- aren't even published, yet, being stored in our
Boothbay building, where the stock is kept under heated/dehumidified
conditions.  (Hopefully, these effervescent rolls will be launched, soon!)

To keep the player going, the piano first has to be restored, the player
rebuilt, and the instrument must meet the public in some fashion.  This
takes work, but the aesthetic rewards are worth the effort.

As one who has played in public for a half-century off and on, I can
state categorically that it is the 'dinner music' arrangements and/or
the slushy, lackluster rolls of the past which alienate much of the new
generation.

If you've heard my roll of "Lion Tamer Rag" (based on a recording by Mark
Lutton) or Ian Whitcomb's "Chester the Cat" one-step, or "On the Trail"
from the "Grand Canyon Suite", you can see why good rolls attract crowds
in our present time.

'Tweedling' J. Lawrence Cook rolls have done more to drive away serious
listeners than anything else I could imagine.  I got into roll making
back in 1952 because of his arrangements, when I knew that the player
could do better.

Let's figure out how to reach the public with our players!

Regards,
Douglas Henderson - Artcraft Music Rolls
Wiscasset, Maine
http://wiscasset.nnei.net/artcraft/