Disklavier

Buying a DSR1 may not solve all of your problems in properly playing the 
e-competition files.  While Yamaha was most generous in publicly 
offering downloads of these MIDI files, the files themselves really need 
some work to reproduce as they were performed--at least on my Mark II 
Disklavier.

The first issue is the sustain pedal commands.  They are directed to 
MIDI channel 1--and, in a few files, to both channels 1 and 2.  At best, 
the reproduction will be on/off, rather than continuous, pedal action. 
Fortunately, the continuous pedal data do reside within the files.  If 
the pedal data are re-directed to MIDI channel 3, you will obtain the 
continuous sustain pedal action so artfully applied by the performers.

The second issue is the glut of useless data in the files.  In addition 
to a duplicate set of pedal data found in some files, mentioned above, 
the files also contain key aftertouch data for which a Mark II 
Disklavier, anyway, has no use.  While my Disklavier does not noticeably 
choke on this load of extra unusable data, the processor must handle 
every bit of it along with the useful data. Conceivably, reproduction 
accuracy may be suffering.

The files, as downloaded, are 50% to 75% larger than they would be 
without the useless data.  I advise stripping the files of the unneeded 
data.

Bob Welcyng

PianoBench@... wrote:

> Good evening, everyone.
> 
> In a message dated 7/9/02 6:54:03 PM, Tony writes:
> 
> << Hi, i have downloaded some of the piano competition midi files 
> to my Mac and have tried making floppies for the disklavier, but 
> they won't play. comes up as "unformatted disk." I have tried 
> formatting the disks as Mac 800k, proDOS 800k, and 
> proDOS720k. None of these work. Am I missing something? >>
> 
> The DOS720K format is correct, however, your Disklavier does not play 
> Standard MIDI Files. Your instrument was designed before SMFs became the 
> standard that they are today.
> 
> Your alternatives are to:
> 
> (1) Add a DSR1 to your Disklavier. This will give you support for SMFs, file 
> translation capabilities, an internal tone generator, and support for high 
> density disks.
> 
> (2) Play these files from your computer which you have appropriately 
> connected to your Disklavier with MIDI cables.
> 
> (3) Translate the files to E-SEQ using either a DOS (non-Mac) program that 
> was written for this purpose or using a DSR1 or modern Disklavier control unit
> .
> 
> Although the DSR1 is expensive, it will provide you with the most convenient 
> solution for this type of problem going into the future.
> 
> Regards,
> PianoBench
> 
> 
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-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska