Bob Hunt asks about getting an electric vacuum pump for the player
piano in his classroom.  I'd say that if "the kids are still
uninhibited enough to love to pump and sing," why not let them do just
that?

When I first got our piano 30+ years ago, I got the great idea to
install a vacuum pump.  Fortunately, my wife nixed the idea.  She said,
"If you want to just sit and watch the piano play itself, you might as
well go upstairs and listen to the stereo."  And she was right.

Let the kids actually DO something, instead of sitting there while the
machine does it for them.  We have enough of that in other parts of
school, where the kids just sit and watch.

Craig Smith