Disklavier

I have used a DAT and Sound Forge to measure the timing accuracy of my Mark II. 
At note velocities over 40, the timing error 90% of the time is less than a
millisecond for single notes played in succession.  Statistically speaking, I
found no difference in timing accuracy between MIDI from a sequencer and E-SEQ
in the Mark II drive.  With older slower computers there can be noticeable
timing degradation of MIDI under Windows if you give Windows other jobs
concurrently.

Driving the DKV through the MIDI input does have another catch that is not a
problem with E-SEQ: You should take note of the pedaling.  If the MIDI file has
continuous pedaling directed to channel 3, you will want to set the DKV's MIDI
IN for "CH=HP" so that the DKV responds to the continuous pedal.  If only on/off
pedaling is present and directed to, say, channel 1, then you will want to set
the DKV for MIDI IN as "CH=01".  Of the PianoSoft disks published, some use one
scheme and some use the other.  (I've modified my files so that there is always
pedaling directed to channel 3.)

Putting all one's files on a CD is not going to be everyone's cup of tea.  It's
still a lot of work and the operation is not "iron ball" simple as with a
diskette.  Yet even operating with diskettes is not fool-proof--insert the
diskette upside down and, I understand, you will destroy the floppy drive.

"Mark A. Fontana" wrote:
> 
> I wonder if there might be a technical disadvantage to the approach of
> driving the Disklavier via MIDI from a computer.  Namely:
> 
> Suppose a piece contains a chord of three notes struck simultaneously.
> This can be represented in ESEQ or MIDI format as three note-on events with
> delta times of 0 between the second and third events.  The Disklavier's
> embedded controller can process a string of events like this as quickly as
> possible, ensuring all three notes strike at the same time (or as close to
> it as possible).
> 
> Whereas if you send MIDI data into the Disklavier, there is no notion of
> delta time; notes are played as they are received (actually 500 ms after
> being received, so that the Disklavier can compensate for varying solenoid
> strike times at different velocity levels).  As MIDI is a serial protocol
> at 31250 bits/sec, 10 bits/byte (8 + start bit + stop bit), a certain
> amount of time is required to transmit each byte.
> 
> With notes being played as they're received, it's impossible to specify
> that multiple notes be struck simultaneously.  Using running status, a
> three-note chord would require a minimum of almost 19 ms to transmit via
> MIDI, or about 28 ms without.  A larger chord with note-offs and pedal data
> mixed in could slow things much more.
> 
> Has anyone been able to tell a difference between playing the same material
> using the console and from a computer?
> 
> On the other hand, it could be that the convenience of storing one's music
> library on the computer outweighs any concerns about timing accuracy.
> 
> On Thu, 28 Jun 2001, Robert E. Welcyng wrote:
> 
> > You've done a service to those with an affection for more of those pesky jewel
> > cases.
> >
> > As an alternative, some might wish to convert their PianoSoft material to MIDI
> > and put the files on a CD-ROM.  Let's say you devote 600 MB of a CD-ROM to
> > data.  That would allow you to store at least 800 each 720 KB albums on a single
> > CD.  Of course, you'd put the files in appropriately labeled folders and name
> > the files descriptively.  You'd devote a folder in the CD to playlists and use a
> > sequencer to play your DKV.  Rather than search and shuffle through jewel cases,
> > you use your Windows "Find" facility to locate files by composer, title, or
> > performer.  You don't have to bother about returning disks and cases to their
> > proper places.
> 
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> 
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> 
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> 
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> 
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-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska