Disklavier

The PianoSmart Upgrade kits are now available from Yamaha - for free! 
PianoSmart allows your Disklavier to play the piano along with audio CDs.  
If your Disklavier is a Mark III with a CD player built-in, then PianoSmart 
is a simple software update.  Everyone else will need to acquire a Yamaha 
DCD1 CD Player to use PianoSmart.  DKV owners who currently cannot play 
standard MIDI files on 1.44 MB floppy disks from their control units will 
also need to purchase the DSR1 Control Unit.  DKVs with the MarkIIXG systems 
that do not have the EMK1 or Smart Key functions, will also need a new 
control board.

If you already have the necessary hardware, the PianoSmart DCD1+PS upgrade 
kit comes with an extra MIDI cable, update disks for both the Control Unit 
and the CD Player, and an Owner's Manual.  There is also a free PianoSmart 
manual available from Yamaha.  You can order these from your local Yamaha 
piano dealer, or from Yamaha Service at 1-800-854-1569.  I strongly 
recommend you acquire the official kit.

However, if you can't wait until it arrives, and you can scrounge an extra 
MIDI cable, I have put the software and instructions on my website at 
www.carolrpt.com/pianosmart.htm  What you will find there is how I explained 
the process to myself.  I have also included excerpts from the official 
documentation to give more details.

This upgrade is an incredible piece of work, and in my opinion, shows 
Yamaha's commitment to their Disklavier customers.  Although the DCD1+PS 
upgrade will allow your Disklavier to use PianoSmart, it has some 
limitations not found in the MarkIII systems with built-in CD players.  The 
most obvious limitation is that the audio pitch correction found on the 
MarkIII systems is NOT possible with the DCD1+PS upgrade.  Since many of the 
CDs on the market are not recorded at A440, their corresponding Smart 
PianoSoft disks are not going to sound good on an upgraded system.  Yamaha 
has posted a list of over 100 titles that DO sound good, with more coming.  
I have posted this list.  However, all the PianoSoft Plus Audio CDs that 
Yamaha has produced, DO work on the DCD1 CD Player.

Many thanks to the Yamaha technical support team for coming up with this 
upgrade, and helping me to learn about it.


Carol Beigel
carol@...

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