Disklavier

Good morning, everyone.

In a message dated 7/25/02 9:35:59 PM, Winfield asks a very interesting 
question:

<< I've just joined the group -- my used 1994 MX88 upright arrived a couple of
nights ago....

The manual that came with it is for a later model.  I've ordered the right
one (same as for MX80) from Yamaha...>>

Getting the right manual will help a lot.

<<The control unit is a DKC5R.  There is no "function" button, so how do I
initiate formatting a floppy disk?  I use a Mac, and if I put one of them
in the drive, it reads "unformatted disk"  -- perhaps a PC format disk will
work as is?....>>

This unit only reads double-density disks and an older Yamaha format for MIDI 
files called E-SEQ.

To give yourself modern features (such as high density disk support--DOS 
format, Standard MIDI Files Type 0 and 1, and a built-in tone generator), you 
need a DSR1 (http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/Specs/?gPIO00001DSR1).

<<I'm a paraplegic -- I've only played digital pianos up 'til now, since I
can control the sustain pedal on them using a mercury tilt switch on a
headband. I'm hoping to jack into the pedal solenoid circuit on the
disklavier to use the same head/pedalling technique.  I'll have it done by
a technician, but the first one I talked to wasn't sure how to do it.  Are
there any techie types out there who could make some suggestions about how
to proceed? >>

This raises some interesting issues. Some years ago, I worked with a player 
piano expert to interface a Duo-Art player piano expression unit with an 
Aeolian vorsetzer (a contraption that sits in front of the piano with 88 
fingers placed on the keys) and a Disklavier. Our concept was to convert 
Duo-Art expression rolls to MIDI by recording them directly on the 
Disklavier. The idea worked very well.

The Aeolian vorsetzer did not have a way of playing the pedals automatically, 
so I took a pneumatic switch that I purchased from a player piano supply 
house, attached it to the vacuum tube coming off the hole on the tracker bar 
that was associated with the sustain pedal data, and plugged it into a device 
called Pocket Pedal using a simple 1/4 inch mono plug. Pocket Pedal turned 
the on/off signals into MIDI data (controller 64, values 0 and 127) and sent 
that data into the Disklavier. I set up the Disklavier to respond to MIDI 
input in real time.

You could do the same thing with your mercury switch. Just wire it with a 1/4 
inch jack at the end and plug that into this Pocket Pedal device. 
Alternatively, you could get a similar switch to the one that I used and blow 
into a tube to create the pedal signal.

There are several problems to overcome:

(1) I cannot find Anatek on the web. The last phone # I have is (604) 
430-4336. The answering maching at that number gives a company name of 
Creation Technologies (http://www.creationtech.com/). I suspect that the 
company has changed its line of business. They used to be located in Burnaby, 
British Columbia. They had a really cool line of Pocket MIDI devices. I liked 
their products because no programming was necessary. You created the MIDI 
message that you wanted using a set of dipswitches. Controller 64 was one of 
the choices. Unfortunately, controller 67 (soft pedal) was not a choice.

(2) Another company, called MIDI Solutions (http://www.midisolutions.com/), 
has a similar line of products. The one that you would need is called the 
Footswitch Controller. You have to program it with system exclusive messages, 
however. To do so, you can use a Windows program made by MIDI Solution's for 
this purpose, or use your own sequencer to send in the SysEx message, or you 
can order the device preprogrammed. In any case, it remembers its 
programming. Like the Pocket  Pedal, it accepts a 1/4 inch jack for input and 
gives you MIDI output.

(3) Disklaviers normally reproduce incoming MIDI data 1/2 second late. The 
reason is that the Disklaviers wants to buffer incoming MIDI data, analyze 
the intended timing of the events, and then start moving the keys and pedals 
appropriately so that the results of those movements are synchronized. For e
xample, if the Disklavier did not do this buffering, a note with a velocity 
of 90 would sound a little early compared to a note with a velocity of 40.

Your model of Disklavier has the simplest MIDI implementation of all of them. 
 When it is set up to receive and respond to incoming MIDI data, it will 
always buffer the data by 1/2 second. On other Disklaviers, you can turn this 
delay off, in which case the Disklavier will respond in real time.

This is a long winded way of saying that you will have to adjust the timing 
of your unique way of pedalling so that you pedal early.

I will check with Yamaha to see if there is any way to turn this delay off.

Regards,
PianoBench