Disklavier

Some years ago, I did a series of tests and came up with this list of rules that the Disklavier seems to follow when choosing a song title to display:

As best I can determine, the Disklavier display can get the file name for a SMF song from any of these four places:

(1) a name stored in a directory that the Disklavier creates on the floppy disk when you make a recording to the disk,

(2) a Yamaha proprietary meta event added to the SMF by the Disklavier,

(3) the so-called "sequence" name meta event which is imbedded in the MIDI file--usually by a sequencing program,

and

(4) the DOS file name.

Which name does the Disklavier use for display?

In the case of pre-Mark IV Disklaviers, it seems as though the Disklavier defaults to reading the name in the directory file if one is present.

The display name registered in the directory file is put there when the directory file is initially created. This directory file is created when a recording is made. Subsequently, whenever a new piece is recorded or an old one rerecorded, the directory file is updated with respect to the file being recorded or otherwise altered.

If a directory file is not present, the Disklavier reads the name embedded in the Yamaha meta event. This meta event is created by the Disklavier and is embedded in the file when you use the front panel of the Disklavier to add a title to a SMF. Adding a title is, technically, a recording procedure which also updates the directory on the disk or creates a new one if one is not present.

Keep in mind that a proprietary meta event will normally not be read by another other piece of hardware or software except one that is made by the manufacturer which is identified as the creator of the meta event. Therefore, Yamaha title meta events may be read by the Clavinova CVP, but will not be read by another manufacturer's keyboard or by your sequencer.

If a Yamaha meta event title is not embedded in the file and a directory file is not present which contains info about the file in question, the Disklavier displays the sequence name. This name is added in a sequencer, such as Cakewalk, Vision, Performer, Metro, etc. For example, with Cakewalk Pro Audio 7, you can go to the File menu and select Info.... This brings up a dialog which lets you add a title. With Performer, you open the Chunks window and create the sequence name there.

When you resave the SMF from a sequencer, the Yamaha meta event--if any--is usually lost. The sequencer may add a sequence name for the song title. If you do not specify a title in your sequencer, your sequencer may automatically add a sequence name anyway. This default title usually shows up on the Disklavier display with the name "Untitled."

Note that the sequence name meta event is actually a "public" meta event--for lack of a better word; it is one that is universally recognized.

Finally, if a directory file is not present, a Yamaha title meta event is not present, and a SMF sequence title meta event is not present, the Disklavier will use the DOS file name for display. You can create this last situation by taking a SMF, opening it in a sequencer, setting the sequence name to nothing, and resaving the SMF file to a disk which has no directory already on it.

How should you add your titles? If you work with a sequencer a lot, your best bet is to add the sequence title when you have the SMF open for editing. Otherwise, adding titles using the Disklavier's front panel is fine. The advantage to adding titles with your sequencer is that the title stays "glued" to the file, regardless of whether the file is opened in a sequencer by someone else or put on a disk to which the Disklavier later adds a directory file.

Keep in mind that on any Disklavier other than a Mark IV, the display name can be up to 32 characters long as far as the Disklavier's display is concerned. The first 16 characters (including spaces) go on the top line, the rest on the bottom line.

On the Mark IV, there seems to be no limit as to the number of characters in a song title. The Mark IV provides a place to enter long song titles. Those names are stored a sequence name meta events in the MIDI file.

Regards,

PianoBench