Disklavier

For conversions between E-SEQ (Yamaha's native Disklavier format used on 
Pianosoft diskettes) to MIDI format, I use the Giebler utilities 
(www.giebler.com)

I play MIDI-format music on the Disklavier using Cakewalk Pro 9.  (PG 
Music's Power Tracks would probably work as well. See www.pgmusic.com)

For playing music from notation, I use Sibelius.

For your background, in MIDI parlance, there are two parameters of 
interest: "MIDI volume" and "note velocity."  

"MIDI volume" is a global parameter.  It affects the overall volume of 
the entire file of  music, provided that the device that is playing 
responds to that parameter.  For Pianosoft files, the standard value is 
100.  I don't know about other models, but my Mark II  (no tone 
generator) ignores MIDI volume altogether.

Note velocity is a parameter of each MIDI note-on event.  Higher values 
of velocity result in the hammers striking the strings at relatively 
greater velocities to produce a louder sound.  Tone generators also 
respond electronically to note-on velocities.

MIDI files that play too loud on a Disklavier can be made quieter (or 
louder) by changing the note-on velocities.  Cakewalk, SONAR, Power 
Tracks, among others, provide convenient means for adjusting note-on 
velocities.  One can change the velocities of a file in any way 
imaginable.  

Frequently, people change velocities by "scaling."  Scaling has the 
effect of changing the velocity values by some percentage,  If you think 
about it, scaling down has the effect of bringing all velocities 
down--but more so for the higher velocities. In other words, the spread 
of the velocities from highest to lowest becomes less.  This is another 
way of saying that the dynamic range has been reduced.

You do not need to scale, however.  You can also offset by subtracting 
or adding a fixed amount to the velocities.  In fact, for some files, 
you might wish to do both. "Veloset" (in the dkvutil) is very useful for 
examining the distribution of velocities in a file and for planning your 
attack on them. (One caution--veloset displays the velocity distribution 
of all tracks in the file, not necessarily just the single piano track 
that you are interested in.)

So what range of velocity values works well?  That really depends on the 
nature of the music.  For a Mark II, a range within 25 to 95 generally 
works well.  For later models, you'll need to experiment, as I don't 
know their characteristics.

Finally, for your background, the Volume knob on your Disklavier acts 
differently from the one on your stereo.  The Volume knob on your 
Disklavier ought to be named "Dynamic Range Control."  It does the same 
thing as the scaling operation. Set to "0", a file will play (nearly, 
anyway) at the same loudness that you recorded it.  As you turn the 
Volume knob to minus values,  the soft notes are reduced very little, if 
at all.  The loudest notes are reduced the most and in proportion to 
their note velocities.

davenjenae wrote:

>I would like to ask what MIDI Sequencer Software programs you use. 
>My interest is in downloading files from the internet and moving them 
>into the proper MIDI format on the Disklaview III system. Any comments 
>are welcome.
>
>BTW, I have used the "dkvutil" freeware, my brief experience is that 
>the files would start to play, then error out (matbe due to operator 
>error).
>
>One last request for advise as a new user of the Disklavier III, I 
>noticed that you (Disklavier owners) want to lower the volume, I 
>believe that you can do this with the Sequencer Software, true? Can you 
>do this with Yamaha's MIDI files also, i.e. lower the volume and then 
>create the new file and let it play?
>
>Thanks
>
>Dave
>
>
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>
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-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska