Thanks, Andrew for the information about recordings!

After I wrote this post for MMD, I found out that Chris Carlisle will
be offering a new "Saloon" CD and a few new releases.  Chris has done
so much with the recording business!  He has really done a great job
at preserving and releasing the recordings of Paul and Laura Eakins.
He also has brought out old material on reel-to-reel tape and recorded
it to CD.  A big "thank you" to Chris!

He also is offering the archival recordings from Terry Hathaway that
were once on the Hathaway web site.  The last of these was recorded
several years ago.  I'm so glad that Chris is still offering these
archival CDs!

The "Karrussels of Europe" CD that was released some years back from
San Sylmar is a nice little sample CD that includes a few orchestrions,
albeit sounding a little more like carousel organs, hence the name.
At least you can get an idea of some of the instruments in the San
Sylmar collection.

Since these collections discourage personal recordings when you visit,
the only real way to hear a good recording is for the owners to produce
a somewhat professional recording.  The main reason for the lack of
recordings is, in one word, "priorities".  We all know collections
like San Sylmar have enough money to produce a cheap little CD, even
with the cost of professional recording.  Let's be realistic; this is
literally "pennies" compared to the millions they spend on restoration
work.  One of the excuses you might hear is, "We have to make a profit".
Do they really have to make a profit on selling CDs?  So, they produce
a few dozen, and they sell some, but they end up having some stacked up
in the storage room.  Is this so terrible?

There are some instruments that really deserve to be recorded, such as
the Popper Gladiator.  San Sylmar owns the rolls to this machine, and
they are rare and incredibly listenable.  When I go on a tour, I get to
hear one (1) song, and every time I love it!  Imagine a comprehensive
CD that would give you a good idea of what this machine is capable of!

I really think we need to encourage collections to produce listenable
CDs of their rare instruments when they sound good.  There's really no
excuse why they can't!

Brian Smith
Calimesa, Calif.