As a newbie to this disklavier group, let me say how wonderful I think this group is.
I have been an a/v producer/engineer, keyboard musician and computer geek since the 70s.
And I road the 1980 MIDI music revolution with the Atari 1040ST computer with built-in midi.
Back then, I had a Roland RD-1000 88 key (wood weighted) midi keyboard,
Roland D-10 64 key midi synth, Yamaha TX81Z, midi sound module,
Kawai K1m midi sound module, Roland TR-505 midi drum machine,
Alesis Midiverb 3 reverb, JL Cooper 8 midi channel patch bay
and several other midi devices, midi arpeggiator, etc.
along with an acoustic Knabe grand piano.
Yes, I still have all this equipment but these days I only need the RD-1000 midi keyboard
controller because I have shifted most of my music making, synthesis
and television a/v production to computers.
I use my music system both with the computer and at other times without the computer.
Of course you can do limitless things when you tie all this midi music equipment together
with midi patch bays or midi interfaces and computers with midi support and midi software.
(But caution, an obvious problem with technology is the more time you have to spend with the
learning curves and the programming, the re-programming and the working and living with
advanced technology, the less time you have to actually create and play live music.)
So in the beginning when music instrument makers began to explore how to talk to their instruments
and have those instruments talk to other instruments there were only proprietary coding schemes.
So different music instrument makers could not easily speak electronically to each other. Therefore,
one of the major goals of universal midi was to get all music instrument makers to agree on one
set of midi music standards so consumers could chose any midi music instrument manufacturer
and successfully communicate with any other manufacturer's midi music instrument or equipment.
Of course there are always exceptions but generally if the devices support midi, they are not dependent
on complimentary operating systems. For example, a Mac via a midi cable can speak with a PC
via midi and both these computers via midi can speak with any brand of midi music instrument,etc.
What "athomik" mentioned below is how I sometimes use my system without a computer too.
Also, you don't like the synth sounds on your present keyboard or player piano?
Mute those synth sounds and via the midi out you could send that midi info to the midi in
of a better external midi sound module or synth. This way the acoustic piano would play it's part
and still send the correct midi signals to the better sounding external midi sound module or synth.
Be sure to mute the midi piano channel on the external sound module or synth so you only hear
the acoustic piano playing that part. And of course the external midi sound module or synth
has to be connected to a stereo system via the stereo's Aux or CD audio input to be heard.
So I thought I would offer to flesh out a little, the midi connection side of things
1. First select one piano keyboard to be the Master keyboard
either because it has the better keyboard feel, better sound(s)
or better midi control features, etc. What ever the reason,
chose one of the keyboards to be the Master.
2. With this arrangement, to make things simple, use only one midi cable.
Connect the midi out from the Master keyboard to the midi in
of the 2nd (Slave) piano keyboard or a synth or a sound module.
3. Make sure your Master keyboard is transmitting on midi channel 1
and your Slave keyboard, etc. is set to receive on midi channel 1 if you
want to use the Master keyboard to play the Slave as a piano. Or set to Solo
mode for strings or horns or woodwinds, etc. if it is a synth or sound module
or set the synth or sound module to Multi-Timbral mode to have the synth
or sound module play as a full orchestra or band.
4. Read your manuals as to the particular details and settings and how to avoid midi feedback
and how to connect midi music instruments that may have midi in, midi thru and midi out.
5. If you had a third keyboard, etc. to gang together, keep the connections you have with the
Master and Slave in # 2. and add a second midi cable to the midi out of the second keyboard, etc.
to the midi in for the third keyboard, etc. and make sure this keyboard, etc. is set to receive on
midi channel 1 for Solo Mode or Multi-Timbral Mode as needed as in # 3.
(Midi timing delays can occur if you gang or daisy chain too many midi devices
together. Two or three may be ok but four, five or six may not.
For more than three, use a midi patch bay or midi splitter or interface.)
There are probably other connections and settings I have not mentioned here
or some peculiar things I don't know about disklavier, that might over rule my
concepts or just plain mistakes in my text, so please discuss, adjust and modify
as needed, based on your own specific criteria.
If anything, this is just to get you thinking about midi possibilities...
Sincerely,
dashby
athomik wrote:
The operating systems have no bearing on the MIDI side of things. If you connect the 2 pianos via MIDI, you could play both pianos at the same time, in real time or have the Mark IV play the U1 using pre-recorded songs (Mark IV in Silent Mode would give you the U1 sound on it's own.) I'm sure others could come up with a whole host of uses.
athomik
On Oct 14 2009, Carol Beigel wrote:
>I would not do that. I think they have different operating systems. I
>believe each unit can record as well as playback. You could however,
>connect them to a MIDI interface that has 2 in and 2 out and attaches to a
>PC using proper software. Then you would be able to record on one piano and
>play it on the other one via the PC.
>
>Carol Beigel
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "yamvet"
>To:
>Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:32 PM
>Subject: [disklavier] Possiblilities???
>
>
>>I now have a Mark IV and a new U1SG in the same room. My wife has the M4
>>and my son has the U1SG. My question is.. If I connect them with Midi
>>cables what can will I gain?
>>
>> Any insight would be appreciated.
>>
>> Keith
>>
>>
>>
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