Disklavier

On Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 8:42 PM, Pi Piano <raspberrypipiano@...> wrote:

Hi Scott,

I'll try not to bore everyone by getting too technical, but...

I started out with buying the hardware:

Rasberry PI, decorative case, 8GB SD Card, USB Power Supply, USB to Midi Converter and a miniature USB to Wifi dongle.

I installed Raspian on the SDCard and then had to upgrade to Raspian 3.2.27 to get the USB to Wifi dongle to work.

I then converted my esq files to midi files using some free Windows tools.

I then wrote a midi playback program that I could control with signals using the ALSA API. I implemented start, stop, pause, resume, next song, previous song, play album and get current song functions. (Pause, resume took forever to figure out how to implement with ALSA.) I also added logic to remap midi channels for my Disklavier to recognize them and filter out any tracks that look like drum tracks.

I then created a set of web pages that would allow me to upload midi files and organize them by folder/album. I then added buttons to control the midi playback program through posix signals. I did this using HTML, Javascript and PHP. I then tested and tweaked my web site to work with Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. (Internet Explorer just had to do everything I needed differently than the rest.)

Here's an example of what it looks like:

It took me several weeks, but I can now control my piano from my iPad, or laptop and I don't have to worry about my floppy drive failing any more (as it was starting to act up.)

I hope this helps.

Justin

On Aug 1, 2013, at 12:56 PM, Scott Cammack <scott.cammack@...> wrote:

Justin,

The use of the RaspberryPi is such a great idea, and one that I've been toying with. I'm delighted to hear that you've been able to implement a working setup. Any chance you'll be sharing details of your experience with the group? I'd love to leverage off your design!

-Scott

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Wed Jul 31, 2013 3:32 pm (PDT) . Posted by: "Pi Piano" raspberrypipiano

I essentially wanted to do the same thing, so I hooked up a Raspberry Pi the MIDI ports on my Disklavier, and I programmed a Web server on the Raspberry Pi to be able to play my library MIDI files through. Now I can browse my library and control the playback from my IPad or any other device with a Web browser. The Raspberry Pi is so small that I was able to hide it under the sofa next to the Disklavier.

Justin