Disklavier

Good evening, everyone.

In a message dated 9/28/02 7:30:16 PM, Carol writes:

<< Thanks, Pianobench, for that last paragraph!  I have never figured out the 
differences between these settings. I have found that PrgAll setting makes 
different tracks try to play the same note at the same time, instead of 
playing a different voice.>>

If you have two separate tracks in a song file, each with a piano group 
voice--such as 01 Acoustic Grand Piano and 07 Harpsichord--you might have a 
situation in which both voices are playing the same notes. That depends on 
how  the song was arranged. In such a case, the PRG(ALL) setting would cause 
the Disklavier to try to play these tracks simultaneously on the piano.

<<Would it make a difference if the file in 
question was a SMF 0 or SMF 1 file? >>

It makes no difference whether the file is SMF Type 0 or SMF Type 1.

I have seen some posts to this group that show some confusion about these 
file formats. From a technical point of view, a Type 0 file is a single-track 
file and a Type 1 file is a multitrack file. HOWEVER, as far as the user is 
concerned, you can consider both types to function multitrack files. From a 
practical point of view (i.e. from a user's point of view), the distinction 
is very slight.

Any device or computer program that plays a Type 0 file looks at the data in 
the file and realizes that most of the data is assigned to various MIDI 
channels (of which there are 16 possibilities). When the device displays the 
data (such as a sequencing program on the computer or the window on the 
Disklavier), the device keeps all of the data separated according to MIDI 
channel as though the data were assigned to as many as 16 separate tracks. 
For this reason, if you open a Type 0 file using a sequencing  program on the 
computer, it will appear as though you have a multitrack file with up to 16 
tracks.

If you find the foregoing to be confusing, think of it like this: For all 
practical purposes, a Type 0 file acts like a multitrack file that has up to 
16 tracks in it.

A Type 1 file, however, can have an unlimited number of tracks. (Okay, there 
is probably an upper limit, but no one ever reaches it!) HOWEVER, these 
tracks can only be assigned to a maximum of 16 channels. For example, you can 
have a Type 1 file with 20 tracks, but every track will be assigned to a 
channel with a number between 1 and 16. In this example, some tracks are 
assigned to the same channel.

Why would you assign multiple tracks to the same channel? Well, think of the 
drum track, as an example. The drum track uses a single instrument called a 
drum kit. Each note in the kit makes a different sound. One note is the high 
hat, another the bass drum, et cetera. If you were sequencing a drum part 
using a computer sequecing program, you might want to record the high hat to 
one track, and then record the bass drum on another track, et cetera. By 
keeping these drum parts on separate tracks,  you will have an easier time 
editing them. However, all of them will get assigned to channel 10.

Similarly, you might want to sequence the left and right hand piano parts 
separately and keep them on separate tracks. However, since they use the same 
voice, you might want to assign them to the same MIDI channel so that you 
have more channels available for other voices.

If you take a Type 1 file and convert it to a Type 0 file, all of the tracks 
that are assigned to the same MIDI channel are essentially combined together. 
If, for example, you had originally put the high hat and the bass drum on 
separate tracks in a Type 1 file, then converted the file to Type 0, and then 
opened it again in your sequencer, you would find that all of your drum parts 
would appear on a single track assigned to channel 10.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
PianoBench