Disklavier

In reply to Spencer, even though I have changed the subject line to be more
descriptive, I think there is more to editing a MIDI file from the internet
than just getting the piano parts to play on Channel 1 or 2.

When I download a MIDI file from the internet, it is to hear my piano play
it.  You would think this would be no big deal as there are 88 notes on the
keyboard.  Not so.  For instance, say I want to download a song like "Theme
From a Summer Place" or the "Chicken Dance".  There are no specific piano
parts - things like strings, chorus, vibes and tango acordion as the MIDI
file has been created on someone's synthesizer.  Even if you choose a
feature using GNMIDI program called "prepare program for PianoDisc" option,
which instantly puts all the tracks in the midi file on channel 1, it still
does not sound good because of the many duplicate notes.  There is also a
"remove duplicate notes" feature, but it still doesn't sound like Mantovani
for piano!

I would love to hear these songs on my piano (so much for my taste in
music!)  That doesn't mean this is going to happen using this software.

The more I try to edit MIDI files to sound good on my Disklavier, the more
appreciation I have for the Yamaha PianoSoft collection.  The beauty of a
Disklavier is that is can pretty well duplicate a live piano performance.
For me however, my first love continues to be the piano performances
generated by the old paper piano rolls.  Artists like J. Lawrence Cook, who
used the piano as an orchestra, with a solid knowledge of harmony and a
piano roll punch, produced thousands of fine piano performances at his
kitchen table.  He produced a roll per day for decades.  Somehow, I don't
think any MIDI file created with lots of tracks and voices, will ever
duplicate such art to my ears!

Carol Beigel


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Spencer Chase" <spencer@...>
To: "Chine-Chine Wang" <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 12:28 PM
Subject: [disklavier] A reply to your message.


> Greetings Chine-Chine,
>
> That is a good idea. I will add an option to move all patch defined
> events to the appropriate channel.
>
> Thursday, January 8, 2004, 9:21:17 AM, you wrote:
>
> CCW> Indeed it is the default on the Disklavier to "only play MIDI data on
> CCW> Channel 1 (L) and Channel 2 (R)", but this is not suitable for a lot
of the
> CCW> MIDI files downloaded from the Internet. In my case, I have changed
the
> CCW> settings on the DKV to play the first two channels (not necessarily
> CCW> channels 1 and 2) that have piano patch to be played by the piano. (I
am
> CCW> currently away from home - and my DKV - so can't say exactly how to
get to
> CCW> those settings or verify for the correct wording, but it's definitely
there.)
etc.