Disklavier

Hi PianoBench,

Thanks for your explanation. They are very helpful.

Regards,
Bin Kuei



--- In disklavier@y..., PianoBench@a... wrote:
> Good afternoon, everyone.
> 
> In a message dated 9/27/02 1:17:25 PM, Bin writes:
> 
> << Referring to the two choices in your last paragraph, could you 
kindly 
> elaborate on the differences. I went with the second set to play 
> downloaded MIDI files and have always wondered about the first 
set.>>
> 
> Here is the  problem:
> 
> The Disklavier has a split personality. That is to say, it is 
really two 
> instruments in one. It is a piano, and it is a tone generator.
> 
> When you ask the Disklavier to play a MIDI file, it needs help 
figuring out 
> which channel data (from a total of 16 MIDI channels) should be 
played by the 
> piano and which channel data should be played by the tone generator.
> 
> When you record a multitrack sequence on the Disklavier, it 
automatically 
> inserts a sequencer-specific meta event into the SMF that tells it 
which 
> tracks are intended for the piano. Over the last several years, I 
have spent 
> time instructing many publishers of pedagogical MIDI files how to 
insert this 
> event so that they can make sure that Disklaviers (and Clavinovas) 
can assign 
> the piano tracks to the left and right part cancel buttons.
> 
> In the absence of this meta event, the older Disklaviers wanted to 
assume 
> that the piano parts were on channels 1 and 2, which is the Yamaha 
standard. 
> Most of the other publishers of pedagogical MIDI files put the 
piano parts on 
> channels 3 and 4, which is the Roland standard. Authors of other 
files that 
> you find on the Internet may use any of the other channels for the 
piano 
> parts (except channel 10, which is reserved for the drum kit in a 
General 
> MIDI compatible file).
> 
> In the absence of this meta event, the Disklavier lets you:
> 
> (1) change its current part setting manually (but does not remember 
the 
> change when you turn off the instrument)
> (2) designate one or two channels as the default channels to be 
assigned to 
> the piano for all third-party files
> (3) designate one of two methods of having the Disklavier 
intelligently guess 
> the channels of the piano part for all third-party files
> 
> When you do the procedure that I mentioned in my last email and set 
> L=PRG(ALL), the Disklavier will look at all tracks in the SMF and 
determine 
> which ones contain a piano group voice. (A piano group voice is any 
of the 
> first 8 voices in the General MIDI voice set). The Disklavier then 
assigns 
> those tracks to itself and plays the rest of the tracks using the 
tone 
> generator. It also lets you cancel the playback of these piano 
tracks if you 
> push the L Part Cancel button.
> 
> If you set L=PRG and R=PRG, the Disklavier will similarly look at 
all of the 
> tracks and determine which ones contain a piano group voice. It 
will then 
> choose to assign the track on the lowest MIDI channel to the L Part 
Cancel 
> button and the track on the second lowest MIDI channel to the R 
Part Cancel 
> button. It will play these tracks on the piano and all others on 
the tone 
> generator.
> 
> Setting L=PRG(ALL) is great except when:
> (1) a file has separate right and left hand piano parts and you 
want them 
> assigned separately to the L and R Part Cancel buttons
> (2) a file has piano group voices (such as harpsichord) that you 
would rather 
> have played by the tone generator
> 
> Setting L=PRG and R=PRG is great except when
> (1) there are more than two channels of piano data
> (2) One or both of the lowest numbered tracks with a piano group 
voice are 
> tracks that you would rather hear on the tone generator
> 
> As you can see, either setting is a matter of intelligent guessing. 
I keep my 
> Disklavier set to L=PRG and R=PRG. When I encounter a file that I 
like that 
> doesn't work with these settings (which is about 5% of the time), I 
fix the 
> file on the computer
> 
> <<Some of the MIDI files are very very loud. I had the same worry 
that 
> my piano might get ruined by these files. I know Veloset can be 
good 
> for piano solo files but remain unsure about what is the "tested 
and 
> true" thing to do with non-solo files. Thanks for sharing your 
> knowledge. >>
> 
> Unfortunately, there is no industry-standard velocity scale that 
all 
> manufacturers use. Therefore, what is loud on one MIDI instrument 
is not 
> necessarily loud on another.
> 
> Many people who make MIDI files that end up on the Internet:
> (1) record them on light action keyboards, which results in high 
note-on 
> velocities
> (2) listen to their files using the weak General MIDI piano sound 
in their 
> tone generator or computer sound card and therefore go to create 
lengths to 
> boost the volume of the piano part
> (3) listen to their files on weak speakers
> 
> If I get a MIDI file off the Internet, I make sure set the MIDI 
volume 
> setting (controller 7) in piano tracks to 100 (100 being the 
Disklavier's 
> default setting), and I reduce the note-on velocities of all of the 
piano 
> notes if the piano part is still too loud.
> 
> Hope that helps.
> 
> Regards,
> PianoBench