Disklavier

George,

Great Disklavier volume explanation!!

Bill

On Feb 17, 2014, at 2:41 PM, George Frederick Litterst <PianoBench@...> wrote:

Good afternoon, everyone.

Here is a comprehensive dissertation on the various elements that affect playback volume of the Disklavier:

(1) Disklavier's Volume Setting on the Control Panel

For all Disklaviers except the Mark IV, volume is set on a scale of 0 to -10. A setting of 0 is the default (full volume) and is the only setting that properly plays back a file that was recorded on the instrument. All of the other volume settings on the control panel result in the volume being scaled down, with -10 as the lowest setting.

The Mark IV is a bit different. The hand-held PRC has a volume meter that goes from 1 to 127. A value of 100 is normal, full volume. A higher value scales up the volume beyond normal, and a lower setting scales down the volume.

Bottom Line: For accurate playback, set your Disklavier's volume to 0 (or to 100, in the case of the Mark IV).

(2) MIDI Note-on Velocity

Depending upon the model of Disklavier, MIDI note-on velocity represents either the hammer velocity of the note (in the case of instruments that have hammer sensors) or the key velocity of a note (in the case of the Disklaviers that do not have hammer sensors). The range of possible values is 0 to 127. A value of 0 in the MIDI world is the same as a note-off message. Therefore, the effective minimum value is 1 and the maximum value is 127.

In the case of casual playing, the Disklavier generates note-on values in the range of about 40 to 90. When an artist pushes the dynamic range of the instrument, the low values may start in the 15-20 range and go up into the 105-115 range. It is rather unusual for a pianist to generate note-on values above 115. Note-on values below 20 are often brushed notes that were barely played and/or which may have been accidentally played.

Unfortunately, there is no industry standard for what a particular MIDI note-on value actually means. If you record a MIDI file on certain Yamaha keyboards--such as an AvantGrand or a Clavinova, the playback on the Disklavier will sound pretty good. If you record on a Yamaha DGX-640, playback may sound OK in the soft range but will sound bizarre in the medium to loud range with certain notes unexpectedly jumping out at you. The reason is that the velocity profile of the DGX-640 does not match the velocity profile of the Disklavier.

Many light action keyboards routinely generate velocities in the range of 100-127. When those files are played on a Disklavier, it may sound as though one is taking a sledgehammer to the instrument. The best way to adjust for these files is to scale down the velocities so that they are within the Disklavier's normal range. That does not mean that the resulting velocity profile will match up musically with the Disklavier's profile, but at least the sound will not be excruciatingly loud.

Bottom Line: It's best to stick with files that were recorded on the Disklavier or which were recorded with instruments that have similar velocity profiles.

NOTE: The Disklavier PRO records note-on velocity with higher than normal resolution, effectively on a scale of 0 - 1023 where the Disklavier PRO's 0 = normal MIDI 0 and the Disklavier PRO's 1023 = normal MIDI 127. The extra bits of resolution are stored as MIDI controller data.

(3) MIDI Controller 7

The MIDI spec has provision for 128 controllers, numbered from 0 to 127. Many of these controllers are defined for specific purposes. For example:

Controller 64 = sustain pedal

Controller 66 = sostenuto pedal

Controller 67 = una corda pedal

Many controllers are undefined.

The controllers that typically affect volume are controller 7 (known as Volume) and controller 11 (known as Expression).

Each track of a properly formatted MIDI file has a controller 7 value at the beginning of the track that sets an overall relative volume for the entire track. Imagine, for example, that you are creating a multitrack MIDI file for piano, bass, and flute. You might start by setting controller 7 = 100 at the beginning of each track. After you finish recording each track, if you decide that the flute part is a bit soft, you might raise its controller 7 value. If the bass is too loud, you might lower its controller 7 value a bit.

In other words, you might use the controller 7 values like sliders on a channel mixer.

In theory, these controller 7 values function much like swell shades in a pipe organ. A rank of pipes lives inside a chamber that is separated from the audience by a wall of louvered panels. When the organist rocks down or up on the swell pedal, these louvered panels close or open, thus causing the rank of pipes to sound softer or allowing them to sound louder.

If controller 7 could be properly implemented on an acoustic piano, it would result in the lid of the piano being moved farther up or down, thus allowing the sound to be louder or causing it to be softer. Of course this is not practical. Therefore, if the controller 7 value for the piano part is higher or lower than 100, the Disklavier scales up or down the note-on velocities in order to simulate the same effect.

Unfortunately, the authors of many MIDI files that you find on the Internet assign high values for controller 7 for the piano tracks. The reason is that they are listening to keyboards or tone generators that have weak piano samples. Therefore, they try to get a more robust sound by increasing the volume level--often in combination with deploying high key velocities. This can result in destructively loud sound when these files are played on a Disklavier.

Bottom Line: As stated above, it's best to stick with files that were recorded on the Disklavier or which were recorded with instruments that have similar velocity profiles. If you want to play files from other sources, it is best to make sure that controller 7 is set to 100 for the piano track and that the note-on velocities are within the normal range of what is generated by the Disklavier.

(4) MIDI Controller 11

MIDI controller 11 is known as Expression. In most cases, it functions identically to controller 7.

Authors of multitrack MIDI files often use controller 7 to set overall volume levels for each track (placing these messages at the beginning of the file) and then use controller 11 later in the file to make small adjustments to the instrumental balance or to generate crescendos and diminuendos in the case of wind and bowed instruments whose notes can sustain indefinitely.

There is no need for controller 11 in a piano track. In the case of the Disklavier, using controller 11 in the piano track only serves to confuse the controller 7 setting.

Bottom Line: If you play files that have controller 11 messages in the piano track, it is best to get rid of them.

Regards,

PianoBench

On Feb 17, 2014, at 1:59 PM, Sam Kanter wrote:

So is volume on DKV normally set to 0, 3, or is it variable for each MIDI file?

Sam

www.keyboardcollective.com

(212) 684-3304

*(Sent from phone - please excuse brevity and typos.)

On Feb 16, 2014, at 7:49 PM, Bill Brandom <bill.brandom03@gmail.com> wrote:

Yamaha PianoSoft files for Disklavier have controller 7 set to 100 at the beginning of each file. Without it, files typically play too loud on a Disklavier.

Bill

On Feb 16, 2014, at 4:43 PM, Skanter123 <skanter123@...> wrote:

Hi everyone,

I've been unclear about this: regarding volume, is there a "normal" volume for playback of MIDI files, i.e. the thousands on www.disklavierworld.com?

I've been using 3, but wondering if 0 is the starting point. Is each MIDI file different volume?

Thanks in advance...