Disklavier

Good morning, everyone.

In a message dated 7/12/03 6:27:51 AM, Carol writes:

<< I had no idea a Disklavier could do this.>>

I believe that every record-capable Disklavier except the MX80 series has had 
an MDR mode. Before the internal Memory Disk, all MDR recording was done to 
the floppy drive. With modern Disklaviers, MDR recording can be done to the 
Memory Disk or to the floppy drive.

<<I should read the Owner's Manual!!  I guess this 
means that the guy with a Roland keyboard now has a chance at recording his 
DKV playing with the percussion sounds on his Roland.>>

I don't recall what the issue was with Roland percussion. However, MIDI data 
is MIDI data. When recording in MDR mode, the Disklavier does not care what 
data it receives from an external source; it simply records it.

<<And if a PianoSoft 
ESEQ file is converted to MIDI first, it can be recorded into a Memory Disk 
using a computer using the MDR Record Mode?>>

Yes. Furthermore, if you had an E-SEQ player, you could record from it to the 
Disklavier.

<<MIDI is so fascinating once you learn how to turn it on!  It took me 3 
years 
to find those little check boxes in Windows that turn on and off the various 
features of the soundcard!  Then there is the matter of knowing what buttons 
to push that access screens behind the screens on a Disklavier.  Now I find 
out there are these cool features that you can turn on, like Remote, if you 
know they even exist at all!>>

You might want to browse every screen of the Disklavier and see if there are 
other items that you don't recognize.

<<Little tidbits like a blank measure with no 
notes, or setting the key and time signatures on notation software on the 
first measure can save a lot of hair-pulling!>>

Anyone who creates a MIDI file for general distribution would be well advised 
to start with a setup measure that contains:

--a message to turn on General MIDI (GM reset)
--a message (that FOLLOWS the GM reset message) to turn on XG (if XG sounds 
are used); this is called XG Reset
--tempo
--time signature
--on each track, put a volume message (controller 7) and the desired patch 
(program) message

If you do a simple recording on your Disklavier that starts when you play 
your first note, you will notice (if you examine the file in your computer) that 
the first note starts 10 ticks into the pieces. Before the first note, the 
Disklavier puts in all of the messages above as well as some other system 
exclusive stuff. By delaying the first note by 10 ticks (a fraction of a beat), the 
Disklavier has a brief but adequate amount of time to read and respond to the 
other messages on playback.

However, if you end up creating a multitrack sequence, some devices will not 
be able to read and respond to all of those messages on all tracks in the 
space of 10 ticks. It is much better provide an entire measure of time for these 
messages.

<<And on Macs, knowing there is 
something in the OS called MIDI Manager with its own set of switches that 
kicks in before the Sequencer software you use.>>

Although OMS is a pain, the principle is simple and is similar on Windows: 
The MIDI software does not send and receive information directly to/from the 
designated input/output ports on the computer. Rather, the MIDI software sends 
and receives information to/from a MIDI driver which, in turn, communicates with 
those ports. 

On the Mac, prior to OS X, OMS was a commonly used MIDI driver. It came with 
a bunch of complexities in its setup that ultimately made the MIDI programs 
easier to use. Basically, the idea is that you configure OMS and tell it what 
devices you have, such as multiport interfaces, specific brands of keyboards, et 
cetera. All of this information would then be communicated to the MIDI 
program that you use.

With OMS properly configured on my Mac, I can go to the MIDI setup window in 
most music programs and choose Disklavier or Clavinova as my output device as 
opposed to USB port or modem port. If the program in question knows anything 
about my keyboards, it will provide me with choices--like patch 
selection--using the actual names that are available in the keyboard.

Regards,
PianoBench