Disklavier

Well gee - I'm really greatful for all your responses! I ordered and now 
have the "How to Play Piano Despite Years..." book, and indeed, it is a 
worthwhile addition! Thank you Carol!

Accompaniment is not just for flutes. All solo instruments (I guess thats 
ALL instruments isn't it? - including sleigh bells and sand blocks in Leroy 
Anderson's pieces) are enhanced by all the rest. From sax to flute, we all 
need backup. In my particular case, I was hoping to find help with my 
attempt to keep up with James Galway's and Phil Coulter's Winter's 
Crossing. Our friend Doug Miller is undertaking a "play-in" of the score of 
that music so that I can try to develop with it.

We all ("non-pianists" - god how I wish I could have been inspired to study 
it when I was young - now life is so short) need encouragement and 
inspiration to keep our interest in the difficult expression of beautiful 
music.

I've discovered some computer software in the past few days called 
PhotoScore (http://www.neuratron.com/) which purports to allow some flatbed 
scanners to acquire the printed score and convert to MIDI sequences which 
could then be uploaded into the Disklavier via floppy disk. Additionally, 
software like Steinberg's Cubase 
(http://www.steinberg.net/en/ps/products/music_production/cubase_sl_mac/ind
ex.php?sid=0) allows us to modify the MIDI files to assure that piano parts 
are within the Disklavier's scope of understanding (we used Cubase today to 
trsnslate the piano parts from MIDI channels that were not recognized by 
the Disklavier on a www.classicalarchives.com piece of Brahms Piano 
Concerto No. 1 to those MIDI channels (1 & 2) that were! So, what us 
accompaniment needing folks can do is to acquire the piano portion through 
scanning and conversion via PhotoScore, modify it as necessary with Cubase, 
and use our Disklaviers for a most useful purpose. I have enough trouble 
carving out time to practice the flute, let alone learing the piano late in 
life. This seems to be somewhat of a solution barring folks who can provide 
quality accompaniment in bulk.

Now, if I could yell "STOP" and retry from numer 4, we'd really have it. 
Yes?

Regards...

 Scott