Disklavier

to answer some of the questions of the first poster:
you can use midimod2 to do batch processing. you can do all sorts of 
dynamic modifications not possible with veloset and can do any number of 
files. i recently made some changes and bug fixes to midimod2 so if 
anyone wants to use it they should contact me directly since i have not 
posted the new version to my web site and might not for a while. it now 
has all controls on one display since most modern monitors can handle 
it. i fixed some bugs with respect to the ability to handle file names 
with things like unbalanced brackets in them.

On 9/5/2013 9:52 PM, Donal Galvin wrote:
> I also think they are too loud but I put a rug under the piano and you 
> could also stuff some acoustic foam tiles under the soundboard which I 
> felt made a significant difference. If your piano has a silent system 
> you can play the piano ultra quiet through the speaker system but this 
> will not be the acoustic piano playing anymore. I found that adjusting 
> the midi files did not make much of a difference at all to the volume 
> playback and you lost a lot of the dynamics of the songs if I turned 
> the max volume down too much on the midi file.
>
> Regards
>
> Donal
>
>
> On 5 Sep 2013, at 21:45, mqphan@... <mailto:mqphan@...> wrote:
>
>> I found that the new DGB1KE3 seems to be too loud even when I set the 
>> volume dial to -10, although I read somewhere that the E3 can play at 
>> lower volume than other models. I have looked through the comments on 
>> the site on this issue, and have a few questions to ask.  Sorry in 
>> advance in case I misunderstand what I read.
>>
>>
>> 1. Carol said to use Veloset to pull the bottom up to about 40 and 
>> the top down to 65 or so.  When I look into the velocity distribution 
>> of a certain MIDI file in Veloset, I see a range of 6-98 or so for 
>> the distribution.  I can certainly pull the top down to 65, but why 
>> should I pull the bottom up? By so doing, am I reducing the dynamic 
>> range even further, which is something we would not want?  In other 
>> words, should I or should I not keep the low end as is, and only 
>> lower the top end?
>>
>>
>> 2. Assuming the Disklavier is properly calibrated, what is the lowest 
>> velocity number that can be still be played and heard (in theory)? Is 
>> there a technical reason why the keys can't be played at a lower 
>> volume than the current standard setup (max velocity at 100 for 
>> Yamaha music and -10 for lowest volume setting)?  I imagine that the 
>> re-distribution of the velocities can be done in real time at the 
>> Disklavier control box, something like a user-adjusted graphic 
>> equalizer.  Does the E3-PRO have this kind of feature?
>>
>>
>> 3. How do I make velocity change in batch, say for all files in a 
>> particular folder, instead of doing it one file by one file?  I 
>> looked at Veloset but failed to see what I should do for batch 
>> processing.
>>
>>
>> 4. Is there any equivalent app like Veloset for the Mac? Veloset is 
>> such a neat utility for what it does which is automatic re-assiging 
>> the velocity for each note without significantly messing up the 
>> overall distribution, hence the human dimension of the music. My 
>> understanding is that if we set all the notes to a fixed velocity, 
>> that piece of music which will sound robotic.
>>
>>
>> I appreciate any comments and/or instructions.
>>
>>
>> Minh
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com 
>> <mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com>, <disklavier@yahoogroups.com 
>> <mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com>> wrote:
>>
>> It might be helpful to remind Disklavier owners that the "volume" has 
>> different aspects than can be adjusted by the user, no matter what 
>> model of Disklavier is being used.  Basically, there are 3 areas you 
>> can do something about:  MIDI data, voicing the piano hammers, and 
>> controlling the sound coming from the piano soundboard.
>> First, the MIDI data control velocity is set somewhere between 0 and 
>> 128.  Most Yamaha Pianosoft disks have a default velocity (volume) 
>> setting of 100.  To my ears this is too loud.  QRS uses a constant 64 
>> setting, but has less dynamic range.  I sometimes question the need 
>> for a great dynamic range greater than 20 points.  The Fix:  use the 
>> Veloset utility to lower the velocity settings for the ESEQ files (or 
>> MIDI files).  Pull up the bottom to around 40, and limit the top 
>> velocity setting to 65 or so.  Remember though, to make copies of 
>> your original disks first, as these programs overwrite the data it is 
>> looking at.  For my own enjoyment, I have made a separate set of 
>> disks (or files on a playlist) that lower the velocity and dynamic 
>> range.  Since many of you already have playlists of files for your 
>> Disklaviers, make a copy of these lists and run a batch fix on the 
>> entire list.  This is the data that is sent to the solenoids that 
>> determines how fast they respond.  Faster response is louder, lower 
>> numbers are softer.
>> Second, the hammer voicing on your piano.  A piano only plays as 
>> quietly as a person playing it can. Some solenoid systems can pulse 
>> more quietly than others mimicking this effect.   As pianos get 
>> played, the felt in the hammers that hit the strings gets harder.  
>> You can probably see grooves cut into the tops of the piano hammers.  
>> The felt in the bottom of the grooves gets more compacted each time 
>> the note is played.  What is usually needed is for the piano 
>> technician to "needle" the hammer grooves to soften the felt.  Every 
>> time I tune a piano, I touch up the voicing in the piano hammers in 
>> this manner.  Makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the sound.  
>> Some of you have pianos that were designed with very hard hammers - 
>> especially the smaller pianos.  Back in the years they were released, 
>> I needed to steam these hammers to get them soft enough, or use major 
>> voicing needle techiques to get them resilient enough. Your piano 
>> technician should be able to help soften the piano hammers to get a 
>> more mellow voice.
>> The third aspect to quieting a piano is absorbing the sound it makes 
>> before it goes out into the room. This is done with foam baffles or 
>> placing carpeting or large pillows underneath the piano.  I have 
>> never had an unhappy outcome as long as I placed 2 layers of foam 
>> stuffed under the soundboard along with a blanket of foam tucked 
>> inside the lid.  This foam sandwich works better than just foam 
>> placed on one side of the soundboard.  I use a special pour of foam 
>> made for sound absorption, but even styrofoam egg cartons stuffed 
>> with styrofoam packing peanuts will go a long way to helping this.
>> The reason "volume control" does not work the same for all 
>> Disklaviers is due more to the pianos than the electronics used to 
>> play them.  You can put a different limit to the value of energy that 
>> activates the solenoids, but in the end, what you are hearing in 
>> acoustic mode is the piano hammer hitting the strings.  This is why 
>> action regulation and voicing, along with tuning, are essential in 
>> keeping your piano playing beautifully.
>> Carol Beigel
>>
>>     ----- Original Message -----
>>     *From:* Kevin Goroway
>>     *To:* disklavier@yahoogroups.com
>>     *Sent:* Wednesday, March 24, 2010 7:07 PM
>>     *Subject:* Re: [disklavier] DKC 850 and Piano Volume?
>>
>>     I was under the impression that the minimum volume is mostly
>>     controlled by the sensitivity of the solenoids that activate the
>>     keys.  If that is the case...no software upgrade will be able to
>>     affect that...
>>
>>
>>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>     *From:* Mark in Idaho <MarkGMID@...>
>>     *To:* disklavier@yahoogroups.com
>>     *Sent:* Wed, March 24, 2010 6:22:15 PM
>>     *Subject:* Re: [disklavier] DKC 850 and Piano Volume?
>>
>>     Bill Brandon,
>>
>>     Yamaha has made a BIG mistake by not including a better volume
>>     control. This is like Toyota continuing to sell cars with
>>     accelerator problems. They could have hit it out of the park with
>>     a volume control that offered a lower volume and an option of
>>     linear or progressive volume reduction. This could all have been
>>     done with software.
>>
>>     Additional volume control only would have almost made the price
>>     worthwhile.
>>
>>     How does Yamaha get their feedback before designing an upgrade
>>     like this?
>>
>>     Mark in Idaho
>>
>>     On 3/24/2010 12:08 PM, Bill Brandom wrote:
>>
> 

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