Speaking solely from the performer's viewpoint, the summation: If the
piano player gets paid, without getting shot (That's a joke, son!),
he oughtta consider himself well treated.  My first attempts to share
mechanical music with the public involved building a carriage frame for
a player piano, so it was easy to roll around, and a special trailer to
haul it all.

Playing in public places with card displayed (Willamette waterfront,
Oaks Amusement Park, Portland, Oregon) gained us a few gigs, but nothing
significant.  The artist was pleased, as it turns out, when folks did,
in fact, sit on a bench nearby and converse, without paying particular
attention to the performance, when it was clear they enjoyed the music.
That is, if they ended up dropping something into the hat (it was
actually designed to look like a bus fare coin box).

And, you might end up as target for some unexpected hostility!  One
fellow, I don't believe he had seen a player piano before, thought he
had caught me committing a great fraud on the public when he saw my
feet, instead of my hands, in action.  He stood there for a few minutes
wearing his "Am I the only one who realizes what suckers this guy is
making of us all" face.

I have since realized that if you sing you have a much greater ability
to hold an audience's attention.  And it's better if you aren't sitting
at the piano, pumping -- so much so, that my gigging and busking these
days is me singing to a piano recording.

Sometimes, the events I serve are the only time these folks see each
other all together in a year's time, typically at a Grange hall.  So,
naturally, their first priority is to catch up on everything.  At such
an event, I don't use a mic.  Those who want to hear the vocals can
come close.  Those who want to talk, talk!

Sometimes, when you don't think anyone's paying attention, you finish a
tune, and everyone turns in your direction and applauds.  That's cool!
And when there are only a few folks left in the hall, and you decide
it's okay to pack up although you were paid to be there another half
hour, and the folks who are still there take the trouble to express
their appreciation for the performance on their way out, that's cool,
too.  You have to imagine that some of the others might have done so if
it had been convenient.

I have a Dynavoice keytop player which I plan to convert to MIDI input
as soon as I'm clever enough.  It will be so keen to have a device that
can easily be hauled in to wherever there is a piano and extract a live
performance out of the local instrument, with all its imperfections,
whatever they be.  That'll be a great show!

I'm reminded of an interview I saw of some big name fella, I don't
remember who.  He was telling about a highly paid gig he did -- it was
more than a thousand dollars, can't tell you precisely -- in New York
City (Yay Big Apple!), in some public place outdoors.  It was on a
stage with a series of acts.

When he came up, no faces were turned in his direction.  There was
a lot of other stuff going on in the same space.  He made his best
efforts to try and gather an audience, to no avail.  After a while,
one of the guys in an upcoming number came up to him and said, "You
did good, kid, now relax".

Sometimes it's healthy to realize you're just a half-step up from a
jukebox.  When you accept the role of "Background Music", it helps to
focus on the fact that even when folks aren't particularly paying
attention, they're very often enjoying the performance.

Lee Rothrock
Springfield, Oregon