Disklavier

Good morning, everyone.


On Dec 10, 2008, at 9:13 AM, Ken wrote:

>
> While shopping for my Disklavier, I recall the salesman touting a  
> feature where the Disklavier could play the exact notes a performer  
> was playing while the performer was playing them.  The salesman  
> encouraged us to imagine that we were sitting at home while our  
> piano was playing the exact notes Elton John was playing while on  
> stage somewhere.
>
> I found some videos on YouTube suggesting that this is indeed  
> possible - the videos I found highlighted the "remote lesson"  
> capabilities of the Disklavier, i.e.
>
>     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9X_P9Ft4qo
>
> Has Elton John (or any other famous performer for that matter) held  
> a live concert where their playing was reproduced on a piano at the  
> time they were playing it?  If so, does anyone have any videos or  
> web-links with additional information?

Ken, I am the person who presented the Disklavier Remote Lesson  
demonstration in the YouTube video. What I can tell you is this:

Yamaha has been demonstrating an experimental Mark IV feature called  
"Remote Lesson" during the last 2 years. During that time, a select  
group of piano teachers around the country has been using the feature  
to give long distance lessons. In addition, the feature has been used  
to broadcast a couple of long distance concert performances.

Remote Lesson is capable of connecting any number of Disklaviers  
together in real time. When you play on one piano, you are  
simultaneously playing on the other pianos as well.

Remote Lesson can be conveniently used in conjunction with a video  
conferencing program, like iChat, Skype, ooVoo, and others. In these  
cases you have both a Disklavier-to-Disklavier connection and a  
computer-to-computer connection. In order to synchronize the playback  
of the piano with the video, Remote Lesson provides controls for  
adjusting the delay (i.e. buffering) at the receiving end.

I have successfully taught a number of piano lessons using this  
feature, and I have observed some of my students being taught by other  
teachers around the country. On one occasion, a student of mine took  
individual lessons on a particular piece by Debussy with 5 teachers  
scattered about the country: New York, Texas, Colorado, California,  
and Minnesota. Shortly before her recital, we arranged a run-through  
with four of the five teachers. In doing so, we had 5 pianos connected  
at one time. The four teachers were able to see her as she played  
their local pianos.

On another occasion, I facilitated 3 evenings of long distance  
performances from New York to Chicago. The Hotel Sax in Chicago wanted  
to have a spectacular opening. Jazz pianist Jon Davis performed on  
successive nights, playing on a Disklavier in the lobby of the Carlton  
Hotel in New York. Using Skype, we broadcast his video to the Hotel  
Sax. At the Hotel Sax, a bass player joined in and accompanied the  
pianist.

NOTE: Remote Lesson is not a program that can be used to facilitate  
long distance duets in the traditional sense. There is a delay in the  
data going from point A to point B. A second musician can play along  
with the incoming data at point B, but if the musician at point A  
tries to listen to the musician at point B, what he hears will be late.

On another occasion, Edisher Savitsky--winner of the 3rd Minnesota  
International Piano-e-Competition--gave a press conference in New York  
from his home in Indiana. Using video conferencing and Remote Lesson,  
he was able to talk about his upcoming Carnegie Hall debut and to  
perform excerpts from his concert.

At this point, we do not know if Remote Lesson will be released as a  
generally accessible feature of the Mark IV.

Regards,
PianoBench

www.georgelitterst.com
www.timewarptech.com