It's been interesting how this initiative has worked out.  Not
surprisingly, it is dominated by concert, fairground and dance organ
material from the UK and the Netherlands because that's what's at hand.

James Dundon can play any material under the terms of webcasting
licenses.  He has been requesting material to broaden the repertoire!
If you have material you want to share, let him know.  It will be
credited when played.

Being interested in player pianos I was asked to help in that
respect.  But there are almost no recordings of popular piano-roll
music available, anywhere.  So, I shared the three discs of jazzy
piano rolls I recorded for Shellwood (now discontinued but I have some
remainders) and a few others I had in my pile of bits.  Bob Berkman's
wonderful "Klezmerola" disc has appeared a few times and I've even
heard myself!

My box had plenty of classical piano rolls, Welte in particular --
easier to record because of its Vorsetzers, easier to market on the
allure of famous masters recorded a very long time ago.  Sadly, many
recording series of reproducing piano music have been disappointing
for various reasons and have probably stymied attempts to do better.

The software that delivers all this does a nice job of informing you
what you've heard.  That's an education itself, and will get more so
as the repertoire expands.  With James' recorded inserts it's all quite
seamless; like so much music radio these days, there's nobody present
but you need to make it feel as if there is.

At the moment the dominance of instruments for public consumption does
rather dominate the less up-front music meant for private consumption,
especially the reproducing piano repertoire that tried so hard not to
sound "mechanical".  There are clear gaps in the genres of instruments
at the moment -- for instance, there's nothing like the exquisite
newly-restored Weber Unika that's been shared this week on YouTube and
Facebook.  The station's software evens-out the playing levels of the
differing types of device.  A musical snuff-box can equal a concert
organ in this world!

Where next, I wonder?  Either the mix is evened out and the somewhat
awkward fit of the differing types may fade, or it may evolve into more
niche offerings if it proves successful.  And perhaps it may encourage
recording of the necessary wider repertoire to the standards needed.

Anyhow, I think it's good that the hobby emerges from the (inadvertent,
and perhaps gilded) cage of paid-membership societies which while
nurturing the hobby also constrain it.  And using current technology
to do this is definitely good.

Julian Dyer
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK