Disklavier

The idea of a remote piano lesson is a good one.  My husband has
always wanted to play the piano and this would be a great way for him
to do it from home.  Thanks for info on this application and hope they
do apply it to the Mark IV. 

Joan

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, "George F. Litterst"
<PianoBench@...> wrote:
>
> 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
>