Disklavier

From Winfried, on the island of  Curacao,  Netherlands Antilles:

>>>>>>>
I own a Yamaha MX100B .... I only use it to record/playback..... but found
some limitations in the accuracy of the recording/playback.  (You can play
notes softer yourself then the Disklavier can reproduce).......

DC7PRO:  I played it and found none of the limitations experienced in my own
MX100B. ..... No noticeable timing differences in chords, extremely low
volume play possible,.....
<<<<<<<

Thanks for your comments, Winfried.  I had a PianoDisk PSD-128+ installed in
a wonderful large grand a couple of years ago, and was very disappointed by
its inability to record hand playing well.  Because playback of a hand played
recording sounds so bad when the damper is in the wrong place at the wrong
time, I have given up trying to use it for evaluation of my own playing.  I
still play the instrument - it's a lovely piano - and once in a while play a
tune or two from the demo disks when asked to do so by a curious visitor.
But basically it was all a very expensive mistake.  Its purchase was
inadequately researched by me, and I assumed the installer who sold the thing
to me understood the subtleties of piano music and could have or would have
pointed out its limitations and inherent design weaknesses.  I am ashamed to
say I never tried to record on a PianoDisk fitted instrument in a store
before buying it.  I just thought PianoDisk had a pretty good reputation, and
considering that I already owned the piano and didn't want to replace it, I
didn't have many alternatives.

The PianoDisk was chosen, of course,  because it was the only machine that I
was aware of at the time that could be installed on an existing piano.  But
the problem is that it has a simple switch to detect sustain pedal up or
down, so it doesn't know about half pedaling.  The dealer tried several times
to get the switch to close at the "right point" in the range of damper lift,
but every setting tried was good only part of the time.  No good compromise
setting could be found.  To get a clean recording, the pianist must
completely alter his pedaling technique to be digital:  that is, pedal up or
pedal down.  No shades of gray in between.  To me at least, this is very
unnatural and  very distracting and unmusical.

There was talk at the time about the pending release of a new damper lift
arrangement that would accurately track the pianist's pedaling and accurately
reproduce it, but time has shown this was all a lot of hype perhaps to
placate an unhappy customer.  I suspect Yamaha has patent protection for
their technique which I understand is very effective in its function.

Are there any others who have found this problem with their PianoDisk
machines?  Is my pedaling technique that bad?  Several visiting pianists
(better than me!) have had the same problem.  I no longer invite visitors to
record their playing;  it is too embarrassing and takes too long to explain
why the playback is such unfaithful.

Is anyone able to record the damper lift pedal satisfactorily?  How do the
PianoDisk recording artists sound so good?  Do they record on special pianos
with analog pedal encoding?  Are their recording carefully edited the way
they used to do on piano rolls?  Do they record on Yamaha pianos?

Is there any hope of a retrofit improvement in the sustain pedal recording
capability?   I sure would like to hear from others, both PianoDisk and
Disklavier owners who have comments regarding their sustain pedal recording
experiences.  Thanks!

Jack Hardman
Great Falls, VA, near DC