Disklavier

Good afternoon, everyone.

In a message dated 8/14/02 11:39:00 AM, Jim writes:

<< Then I took that one file and put it on a blank
disk, thinking I should be able to play the file on the piano, no luck
everything goes through the speakers.

I read in the manuals and some searches through the archives that the piano
part must be on channel 1.  I tried using the PowerTracks rechannel ( not
sure if I even did this right ) function but that produces the same result. >>

When you record a piece on your Mark IIXG Disklavier, you would normally 
record the piano parts on channels 1 and 2 (which natively correspond to the 
Left and Right cancel buttons on the control panel). Playback should not be a 
problem because the Disklavier puts a message into the MIDI file (called a 
sequencer-specific meta event) that tells the Disklavier that the piano parts 
are on channels 1 and 2.

When you play back a MIDI file from disk and the file does not contain this 
meta event, the Disklavier has to guess which channels contain the piano 
parts. Fortunately, you have control over the way in which the Disklavier 
makes its determination.

Try the following:

--Press Function.
--Move the cursor to MIDI Setup and press Enter.
--Press Enter again to enter the PianoPart section of the display.
--Press the Right Arrow button two times to get to the next page.

At this point, you will see settings for Import File. Import File is a name 
for a MIDI file that was not authored on the Disklavier (and is therefore 
missing this meta event). At this point, you can set defaults for R= and L= . 
The Disklavier will use the defaults to choose the channels that will be 
played by the piano itself.

I recommend that you set both R and L equal to PRG. If you do so, the 
Disklavier will choose the lowest numbered channels that contain a piano 
group voice (voices 1-8 in the General MIDI sound set) and assign them to the 
L and R buttons and therefore play those parts on the piano.

This setting will work just fine for 95% of your MIDI files. Occasionally you 
may encounter a file with a piano part and a harpsichord part (voice number 
7), and both parts will get played by the piano.

Regards,
PianoBench