You cannot tackle a problem until you have identified what it is,
and Nancy Fratti has identified several pertinent points.  There are
other aspects to the apprenticeship conundrum.  Not only does taking
on an apprentice impact on a restorer's income and time, but in the
UK she or he is likely to have to take into consideration regulations
concerning health and safety, basic facilities on his or her premises,
possibly employment rights and issues regarding 'the protection of
vulnerable people.'

In the 'olden days' apprentices paid a considerable sum to their
'master' to be taught the trade, beyond what might be considered a
fair amount for formal training on a collective course.  (I heard the
widow of one craftsman describe it as 'paying her husband's pension.')
Others learned their trade by being employed as 'bench monkeys', a form
of exploitation that would not now be tolerated in the western world.

There are a number of competent 'hobbyist' restorers in UK who took it
up in their spare time who already had related skills through a day-job
involving engineering.  But we have moved from the mechanical to the
digital age.  Nowadays our household appliances are as likely assembled
the other side of the world, and if they fail to work the chances are
it is due to faulty electronics.

Through globalisation and changes in manufacturing processes and a
society sufficiently affluent that it is easier to buy something new
than 'make do and mend,' fewer people get incidental exposure to the
physical mechanics of how things work.  Or even the sense of needing
to know.  And so the gap between what one learns incidentally and the
required specialist skill or knowledge widens.

This is merely an elaboration of the 'problem,' and what we are all
looking for is a solution.  I think Nancy is right in that even if
someone wanted to pass on their expertise, it is getting harder to
find someone to pass it on to.

And so we come back to that other perennial conundrum: how do you
interest more and younger people in mechanical music?  One avenue
being explored by MBSGB is whether an interest in mechanics can be
stimulated by introducing youngsters to simple automata.  What's a
robot if not a machine which is programmed to move itself?  Before
the age of electronics, this was done mechanically.

Another aspect that I believe has not yet been exploited sufficiently
is projecting the relevance of mechanical music in the 21st century.
In the past the instruments were often seen by many as an investment,
in the context of antiques.  But by definition they are musical
instruments and they still have a role to play in entertainment
(an easier concept to convey in the case of organs, pianos and
orchestrions.) Self-programmed organs are still being made by craftsmen
in a number of countries, many in Europe, who make a living from it.

Additionally 'automatic' instruments could and should play a part in
demonstrating the progression of technology in general, as well as
applied to entertainment.  They also hold a unique record of musical
tastes and/or (particularly in the case of player pianos) historic
practice.

Depending on the instrument, it is perhaps no longer an economic
viability to keep them well-maintained for investment purposes.
However, it is a necessity to maintain them as examples of bygone
musical tastes, technology and development.  Time to lobby educational
institutions to recognise their full historic significance.

Alison Biden, MBSGB