[ Ref. "Aging Impacts Mechanical Music Maintenance Field" ]

There seems to be much interest, understandably, in the topic of
finding qualified technicians to do good work, as the most senior
retire with increasing frequency, thereby leaving a gap of knowledge
and experience.  It's a vast topic, with many perspectives, and I
will offer a few of mine, as one of the comparatively "younger" folks.
It will obviously be a bit piano-centric, but I believe several of my
points can be generalized to all mechanical music.

Firstly I feel it's important to place this problem in the context of
a larger phenomenon.  While mechanical music may be the "canary in the
coal mine", this is an issue facing the instrument and music service
and sales industry as a whole.  Try to find a qualified and reasonably
priced technician for a pipe organ, electric keyboard (e.g. Hammond
organ or Rhodes piano), electronic keyboard or even plain old acoustic
pianos, and you may be in for a challenge, at least in the more rural
areas and smaller centers.

If we believe in the old business axiom of "supply and demand", we
see that while it's true the supply (of skilled labour) is diminishing,
so too is the demand -- dramatically, in some cases.  We all know the
direction that sales of new musical instruments is going these days.
When I visited the commonwealth of Virginia a few years ago, I talked
with a dealer who told me that he "had never worked so hard just to
lose money" in his business, in recent years.

Obviously one doesn't buy band organs, music boxes or pianolas at
a local big box store, but again if we consider the resale values of
many of these instruments, from what I understand it is a pittance
compared to years past.  The constant volume of classified listings,
looking to divest of instruments, testifies to that fact.  All this
to say: How then to encourage new blood to enter into what some may
in fact consider a sunset industry?  This is not my personal opinion,
but one that I think we have all heard.

With regard to training: a previous poster had mentioned incorporating
player piano restoration into existing piano technology programmes.
As someone who has taken some of these courses, I will offer a
counterpoint.

The first thing is that (due to above factors mentioned) these formal
programmes themselves may be endangered.  As Mr. Bullock mentioned,
the Chicago course is no longer around; it looks like it may be a
similar fate for a course I took (University of Western Ontario,
London, Canada).

The second thing is cost; these courses tend to be quite expensive.
For the remaining schools, such as North Bennet Street School (NBSS)
in Boston, I believe it's a two-year commitment and the tuition is
around $25K, according to their website.

The curriculum is very full, with the goal of becoming a professional
piano technician.  There is so much to know just in this field it is
like drinking from the proverbial fire hose, so with that limited time
frame, it is not so realistic to incorporate pianola training.  The
more advanced courses like FSU [1] or Oberlin [2] are not designed for
this, either.

And so, back to the question of apprenticeship.  Douglas Bullock has
already outlined some of the challenges with trying to recruit suitable
candidates.  Younger people may not have the mindset of patience and
discipline to climb the steep learning curve of restoring mechanical
music instruments.

As they say, you can lead them to water but can you make them drink?
No!  There is a difference between "teaching" and "learning".  I feel
like this is something that must be learned, by which I mean the desire
must come from within.  That spark has to be lit; how to start the fire
burning I will leave for others to debate.

And again we must consider cost.  Unless the student is located in
the immediate vicinity of the master - how can one be expected absorb
the cost of paying for private instruction, living expenses, and taking
considerable time away from earning regular income in the meantime?
I realize that this is the way things were done back in the "good
old days", but by appearances those days are gone, probably for good.

This leads toward my final point.  I wish to concur with the points
raised in John Tuttle's post.  I think John is doing a great service
and he is right to toot his horn!  For me, personally, John has proved
a great resource, not only in the wealth of materials demonstrated on
his site but also in the generous time he has given in responding to my
many emails.  Between Player Care and the classic book by Art Reblitz,
these have been my primary sources of information.  And of course we
can't forget our own MMD, as well as specialized associations (e.g.
AMICA).  So technology is a double-edged sword; it drives many
(including me) to constant distraction, but it also enables all of us
to communicate easily with each other.

For DIY-ers the cost of a book such as Reblitz or an annual membership
to MMD or a club is rather modest; the real investment is the time
spent absorbing all of this information, which can be done at one's own
pace.  You get out of it what you put into it.

The shared thread running through this post is the almighty dollar,
which always seems to be the common denominator.  Instrument
maintenance and restoration costs an awful lot of money, to be done
regularly and properly.  Public, private and non-profit institutions
who care for instruments face budget cutbacks and dwindling interest.

Training centers rely on paying "customers" (students) to subsidize
their faculty and facilities.  If they don't have a full class, the
admin bean counters who hold the purse strings then shut it down.  If
younger people don't see a viable career for themselves, it becomes an
additional impediment to invest time and resources in learning this
wonderful craft.

Even for those who are already skilled, the costs of travel, vehicle
maintenance, tools, quality supplies and materials is always going up.
When someone drops out of the game, this just leaves a larger area of
service for someone else to fill.  Some days it seems like we are in a
vicious circle.  But there is always hope.  Several of you have shared
stories of success, even if modest.

In conclusion, I think that the takeaway is to encourage new and
creative methods of dissemination of knowledge, whether it be personal
instruction or DIY learning in a digital environment.  And perhaps most
importantly, as many of us already know, money should not be the
primary motivator, despite what I have just written.

While this is easier said than done, it is vital to first develop a
love for the craft, and if one's heart and mind are in the right place,
the money will follow eventually.  And while the term "hobbyist" often
gets a bad rap, do not most professionals begin this way?

I honestly don't know if (once I have learned sufficient skills) my
piano service business will broaden to include pianola restoration,
but right now I am concentrating on expanding my knowledge for my
own edification, which will hopefully help fuel my passion.  The
examination of the business model is something to worry about later!

Thank you to MMD for providing a forum and a place to learn from and
converse with like-minded people.

Sincerely,

Ian Gillis - Registered Piano Technician
Chester Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada
http://www.pianoservice.ca/ 
ian@pianoservice.ca.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

 [ References:
 [ 1. Florida State University, Master of Arts in Music, Piano
 [    Technology Emphasis
 [ 2. Oberlin College Conservatory of Music Artist Diploma
 [    in Piano Technology