Disklavier

Good afternoon, everyone.

In a message dated 6/6/02 3:53:18 PM, Tom writes:

<< Does anyone from Yamaha or elsewhere have any idea when this software 
and firmware upgrade may be released?  It is now June and I have heard 
nothing further about either the software or the firmware upgrade for 
the Mark III disklavier required to play it.   >>

I believe that it has been delayed by about a month or two.

You might be interested to know that the PianoSmart technology, as it will be 
implemented, will enable some pretty far-out applications. For example, using 
SMPTE time code, you can synchronize playback to a video.

We are using this video sync technology today in the context of the 
International Piano-e-Competition that is taking place in Minneapolis 
(www.pianoecompetition.com). During the solo portion of the final round, we 
will film each of the six finalists with a digital camera as they perform 
their Schubert sonata. Simultaneously, we will record SMPTE time code in the 
form of audio tones onto the audio tracks of the video tape. The SMPTE code 
will be generated by a SyncMan box, available from MIDIMan. The SyncMan will 
simultaneously output MIDI Time Code (MTC) in order to control the internal 
timing clock of the 9-foot Disklavier Mark III as it records the performance 
as a MIDI file.

We will capture the video and compress it with MPEG4 in real time on a 
Windows laptop using Windows Media Encoder. As soon as the performance is 
finished, we will upload the video file (in Windows Media Player format) 
along with the MIDI file to a secure ftp server so that these files can be 
downloaded for a judge (Yefim Bronfman) who is on concert tour in Japan. He 
will be able to view the video (without audio) and simultaneously listen to 
the playback on a 9-foot Disklavier.

Regards,
PianoBench