Spencer, the answer is a bit complicated.
Back in the days of the Mark IIXG and the Mark III, the Disklavier had a setting called “Import File” which enabled the user to designate which channel(s) of an imported file would play on the piano. (For undisclosed reasons, this setting was dropped from the Mark IV and the E3.)
What is an “Import File?” It’s simply a file that was not recorded on the Disklavier.
It turns out that every file recorded on the Disklavier includes a sequencer-specific meta event at the beginning of the file that tells the Disklavier where to find the channel data that should be played by the Disklavier itself and therefore associated with the L and R part cancel buttons. Any file that lacks that message is considered to be an “Import File.”
By default, this sequencer-specific meta event looks like this:
7F 43 7B 0C 02 01
This event is recognized by Mark IIXG and later Disklaviers as well as by CVP Clavinovas.
The first two letters (7F) identify the event as “sequencer-specific.” The number “43” is Yamaha's MIDI manufacturer ID. “7B 0C” identifies the type of event. “02” sets channel 2 for the “R” button on a Disklavier or Clavinova. “01" sets channel 1 for the “L” button on the Disklavier or the Clavinova.
You can put this message into any file that was not recorded on a Disklavier, and the Disklavier will then recognize the file as a native Disklavier file and respond as described above. If the actual piano parts are on other channels, you can change the sequencer-specific meta event as appropriate.
For example, the publishers of piano teaching methods adopted the Roland standard for channel assignments over 20 years ago. According to the Roland standard, the right hand should be on channel 4 and the left hand on channel 3. For this reason, I have taught these publishers to add this message to their files in order to make them compatible with the Disklavier and Clavinova:
7F 43 7B 0C 04 03
Interestingly, Clavinovas, by default, put a slightly different message into files that are recorded on the Clavinova:
7F 43 7B 0C 01 02
By default, the Clavinova puts the RH on channel 1 and the LH on channel 2.
As long as an appropriate version of this message is in a MIDI file, channel assignments work out nicely.
Unfortunately, just about every commercial MIDI sequencer blows away sequencer-specific meta events when you open the file. I don’t know why they do that. I use MidiKit (http://www.mixagesoftware.com) on the Mac to add and edit these messages.
A utility for batch-adding this event to MIDI files would be very useful.
It should be noted that this sequencer-specific meta event has nothing to do with playback over MIDI from an external device. Sequencer-specific messages are not sent over MIDI cables; they merely inform the playback device as to how to behave.
Regards,
George
On May 12, 2014, at 11:11 AM, Spencer Chase lists@... [disklavier] <disklavier@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
so is it safe to say that putting all data that you want to play as acoustic piano on channel 1 of a type 0 file will play correctly, on pretty much all DKVs?
Good morning, everyone.
Spencer, the early model Disklaviers (Wagon Grand, MX100A&B, and MX80 series) uses a file format called E-SEQ. The Disklavier implementation of that format put the piano note data on channels 1 and 2 along with on/off pedal data and incremental pedal data on channel 3. The separation of on/off pedal data from incremental pedal data made sense. The Wagon Grand supported incremental pedal data but the MX100A&B and MX80 series Disklaviers did not.(NOTE: Channels 1 and 2 were both used if the recording was a left-hand/right-hand recording in which the LH was assigned to channel 1 and the RH to channel 2. If the hands were not split in the recording or editing process, all of the note data was placed on channel 1.)Starting with the Mark II, all Disklaviers have supported incremental pedal data. The Mark II still recorded in E-SEQ format but it could play Type 0 Standard MIDI Files. Starting with the Mark IIXG, SMF Type 0 became the default for recording on the instrument itself.In the case of Disklavier recordings in SMF format, the instrument reserves channels 1 and 2 for both the piano note data as well as all of the pedal data.Regards,PianoBenchOn May 12, 2014, at 12:10 AM, Spencer Chase lists@... [disklavier] <disklavier@yahoogroups.com> wrote:remap channels will do batches. it does not clone channels but changes them. not sure why you need to clone channels, redundant information should not be necessary. DKV wants notes on channels 1 and 2 and pedal on 3 although all on channel 1 should work too???
Thanks Spencer. I found that if I convert Perfessor Bill's midi file to a 0, then clone channel 3 to channel 1, then clone channel 2 to 1 then it will play all the notes on my piano. If the speaker is turned on it will still play the higher notes on the speaker which is expected since I did not delete any channels. I did this on the GNMidi shareware but I don't see where I can do this as a batch, which would be nice. Does Spencer's remap program do batches?
Thanks again for the guidance on channels.-- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550-Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@... http://www.spencerserolls.com (707) 984-8356 (425) 791-0309-- Best regards, Spencer Chase 67550-Bell Springs Rd. Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only. Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only. Spencer@spencerserolls.com http://www.spencerserolls.com (707) 984-8356 (425) 791-0309