Disklavier

Good morning, everyone.


On Apr 14, 2009, at 3:59 PM, John Cheever wrote:

> My DC3 Pro Mark II arrived yesterday, what an awesome piano. Of  
> course, it came with no documentation and no disks, so I've yet to  
> feel the full power of disklavier. I plugged it in and everything  
> fired right up. There were a couple songs and test scales in the  
> flash memory which played nicely, and I was able to get it to record  
> my own playing.

Congratulations on the purchase. I have a similar instrument: DC3 Pro  
Mark IIXG. (Your is actually a Mark IIXG; there were no Mark II Pros.)  
It is a wonderful instrument. In my case, my instrument is enhanced  
with computer software for:

--playing accompaniments that follow me and turn my pages automatically
--teaching my students
--connecting to other MIDI instruments over the Internet
--recording and editing MIDI data

I also have the DCD-1. The main feature of a Mark IV that I am missing  
is Disklavier Radio.


> I noticed the sustain pedal was not lifting the dampers, but that  
> turned out to be an easy fix. A little dowel rod popped out of it's  
> socket. Got that back in place, and I was in business. During auto  
> playback, I noticed the sustain pedal solenoid gives the pedal a  
> real whack. No wonder that dowel rod popped out. BTW, my sustain  
> pedal requires quite a bit of force, and it doesn't spring back  
> quicky. Is that characteristic of Disklavier?
>

The proper adjustment of the pedals stands at the heart of the record/ 
playback system. If they don't feel like the do on a non-Disklavier,  
it is time to schedule a visit from a Disklavier technician.


> Today I found and downloaded the Mark II XG owner's manuals from the  
> Yamaha site, but I could not find an owner's manual for my DCD1  
> upgrade anyhwere. Anyone know where I can find a copy?
>

If you are in the U.S., I recommend calling Yamaha Piano Service:  
(800) 854-1569.

> I have one question about MIDI ports and I'm sure there's a simple  
> fix. The DCD1 occupies both MIDI ports on the DKC500RW controller. I  
> was hoping to connect the piano to the MIDI out of a computer or  
> other MIDI player. How can I have two MIDI INs on the piano? Can the  
> "to Host" be used as a MIDI IN?
>

The To Host can, indeed, be used as a MIDI In and a MIDI Out. If you  
are using an older computer that has serials ports (i.e. Windows 98SE  
vintage or Mac OS  9 or earlier), you can connect using a serial  
cable. Unless, however, you are willing to live with an older computer  
and older software, that is not a practical solution.

I use a Yamaha MIDI interface called the UX-96. It has MIDI IN, MIDI  
OUT, and Serial MIDI. To use it, you must:

--install the Yamaha USB MIDI driver (http://www.global.yamaha.com/download/usb_midi/ 
)

--move the To Host switch on the back of the control box of the  
Disklavier to Mac or PC1 as appropriate

You will have to move the To Host switch back to MIDI whenever you  
want to use the DCD1 which is connected to the MIDI ports.

Alternatively, there are MIDI splitters and mergers that you could  
purchase so that the MIDI ports are shared. See:

http://www.midisolutions.com/

Regards,
PianoBench


www.georgelitterst.com
www.timewarptech.com