Disklavier

Hi all 
 Just took delivery of a gleaming new DU1A-PE with all the mark 
three disklavier gear on and it is gorgeous . On reading through the 
archives I noticed a question relating to velocities on midi files, 
suggested velocities were around the 65 mark as damage to the piano 
action could result . Shock horror I immediately check all my files 
and discover (using the natty veloset program on the DKV utilities 
disc ) that all my pianosoft discs have velocities up  to 118 is 
this ok or  is it just the midi files that  have the velocity at 
maximum through out the file that are the problem ? I  tried some 
rachmaninoff at the suggested lower velocity and thought it lost a 
lot from the performance . Great group, will keep you posted with my 
progress. Cheers     Tom

In my opinion, you won't break the strings or hammers of your Disklavier 
with any PianoSoft diskette songs, nor with downloaded MIDI files.  This 
is because with the DKV's volume set at "0", the DKV limits the hammer 
speed to that of a note of velocity 95 (at least for a Mark II, and 
presumably for the Mark III).

Should you inadvertently play a file with high velocities, you can be 
sure that you will be diving for the volume control knob both to 
preserve your sanity and the instrument's tuning.

Sometime while your tech is there, she/he will run the keyboard 
calibration.  You will then hear some pretty loud (high velocity) notes 
safely played on your instrument.

optimuminput wrote:
> Hi all 
>  Just took delivery of a gleaming new DU1A-PE with all the mark 
> three disklavier gear on and it is gorgeous . On reading through the 
> archives I noticed a question relating to velocities on midi files, 
> suggested velocities were around the 65 mark as damage to the piano 
> action could result . Shock horror I immediately check all my files 
> and discover (using the natty veloset program on the DKV utilities 
> disc ) that all my pianosoft discs have velocities up  to 118 is 
> this ok or  is it just the midi files that  have the velocity at 
> maximum through out the file that are the problem ? I  tried some 
> rachmaninoff at the suggested lower velocity and thought it lost a 
> lot from the performance . Great group, will keep you posted with my 
> progress. Cheers     Tom  
> 
> 
> To Post a message to the group, send it to:   disklavier@...
> 
> To Post a private message to Todd Muncy, the group's founder and moderator, send it to:
> disklavier-owner@...
> 
> To reach our group's web site go to:
> http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier
> 
> Todd's family web site was completely updated 01/15/03.  It contains some fun disklavier content and links to midi sites among many other things, The url is:
> http://MuncyFamily.com 
> 
> THINKING OF LEAVING THE GROUP?
> If you are thinking of unsubcribing because you are getting too much mail, go the the web site and change your email delivery option instead.  That will fix the problem, while maintaining your access to the group.  If you insist on leaving us completely send a blank email to:
> disklavier-unsubscribe@... 
> 
> Know someone who wants to join?  Have them send a blank email to:
> disklavier-subscribe@... or give them this link:
> http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join 
>  
> 
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/
> 
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>  disklavier-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska

Whatever the velocity numbers are is almost irrelevant to what loud playing
(playing louder than a person sitting at the keyboard ) will do to a piano
action.  Grand pianos can take much more of a beating than upright pianos.
I own an upright Disklavier, and as a piano technician, I think a velocity
number of 100 with the volume set at 0 is WAY too much for my piano!  No
upright piano action can take that kind of pounding without the center pins
eventually walking.  There is no way I can play even PianoSoft disks at a
volume setting of 0 without feeling that long-term damage will occur to my
piano action.  I usually keep the volume at -4 because at -6 the soft pedal
kicks in, and I don't want that solenoid to heat up.  I positively know that
MIDI files playing at a velocity of 127 will eventually damage my piano
action.

Without going into the mechanics of how different piano actions work,
suffice it to say that if you think your piano is playing too loudly - it
probably is!!  We are not talking about trying to carry on a conversation
sitting next to the piano while it is playing at the lowest volume number,
but a piano playing so loud your ears hurt.  Many of us on this list have
different kinds of Disklaviers; some are on all electronic instruments like
the DGT2 or DGT7, some are using Clavinovas, some are installed on grand
pianos and others on uprights.  A MIDI velocity of 90 will sound at a
different volume level on each of those instruments.

I think those of us with upright pianos need to be the most careful about
the velocity numbers.  For my piano and ears, I like the range of 60-80.
PianoSoft disk defaults to 100 so they don't lose the low notes on all
models. That does not necessarily mean that putting the volume control on 0
doesn't cause long-term damage to your piano action.  One of the nice things
about the PianoSoft disks is that they are consistent so you can find a
comfortable volume setting and leave it alone.  As for MIDI files, every one
of them needs to be checked and possibly edited for a safe volume level for
your model of Disklavier.

Everyone should use their best judgement about how loudly to play their
Disklaviers.  The numbers just don't tell the whole story when it comes to
wear and tear on piano actions.

Carol Beigel


----- Original Message ----- 

From: "optimuminput" <tom@...>
To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 3:24 PM
Subject: [disklavier] velocities on Pianodisc software


> Hi all
> Just took delivery of a gleaming new DU1A-PE with all the mark
> three disklavier gear on and it is gorgeous . On reading through the
> archives I noticed a question relating to velocities on midi files,
> suggested velocities were around the 65 mark as damage to the piano
> action could result . Shock horror I immediately check all my files
> and discover (using the natty veloset program on the DKV utilities
> disc ) that all my pianosoft discs have velocities up  to 118 is
> this ok or  is it just the midi files that  have the velocity at
> maximum through out the file that are the problem ? I  tried some
> rachmaninoff at the suggested lower velocity and thought it lost a
> lot from the performance . Great group, will keep you posted with my
> progress. Cheers     Tom

To clarify my earlier note below and Pianobench's remarks, there are 
several possible contexts for the term "volume" as used around here.  It 
can mean:

1) The setting of Disklavier's Volume control knob (which I call "DKV 
volume"),

OR

2) A value or values (0 thru 127) within a MIDI file and applied to each 
track by the setting Controller No. 7.

I used the term "volume" only in the first sense and did not address the 
other. I defer to PianoBench's excellent explanation of the effects of 
setting Controller No. 7 to either 0 or 100, depending upon the DKV 
model and the desired outcome.

Here are a couple of asides . . .

If you wish to reproduce a recorded file (MIDI or E-SEQ) as closely as 
possible to the original sound output of the DKV, set the DKV Volume 
Control knob to "0".  At lesser settings of the control knob, the sound 
power output will be less than that of the originally-played piece.

Should you examine a PianoSoft Plus file with Veloset, the resulting 
histogram combines the velocity distribution of all tracks--piano and 
ensemble instruments.  The highest velocity indicated is not necessarily 
that of the piano, but may be of some other instrument.  It would take 
an extraordinary whack on a DKV key to produce a velocity of 118.  To 
see a histogram of only the piano velocities, open the file in Cakewalk, 
save it under a new name, delete the non-piano tracks, save the file 
again, and then open it in Veloset.



Robert Welcyng wrote:
> In my opinion, you won't break the strings or hammers of your Disklavier 
> with any PianoSoft diskette songs, nor with downloaded MIDI files.  This 
> is because with the DKV's volume set at "0", the DKV limits the hammer 
> speed to that of a note of velocity 95 (at least for a Mark II, and 
> presumably for the Mark III).
> 
> Should you inadvertently play a file with high velocities, you can be 
> sure that you will be diving for the volume control knob both to 
> preserve your sanity and the instrument's tuning.
> 
> Sometime while your tech is there, she/he will run the keyboard 
> calibration.  You will then hear some pretty loud (high velocity) notes 
> safely played on your instrument.
> 
> optimuminput wrote:
> 
>>Hi all 
>> Just took delivery of a gleaming new DU1A-PE with all the mark 
>>three disklavier gear on and it is gorgeous . On reading through the 
>>archives I noticed a question relating to velocities on midi files, 
>>suggested velocities were around the 65 mark as damage to the piano 
>>action could result . Shock horror I immediately check all my files 
>>and discover (using the natty veloset program on the DKV utilities 
>>disc ) that all my pianosoft discs have velocities up  to 118 is 
>>this ok or  is it just the midi files that  have the velocity at 
>>maximum through out the file that are the problem ? I  tried some 
>>rachmaninoff at the suggested lower velocity and thought it lost a 
>>lot from the performance . Great group, will keep you posted with my 
>>progress. Cheers     Tom  
>>
>>
>>To Post a message to the group, send it to:   disklavier@...
>>
>>To Post a private message to Todd Muncy, the group's founder and moderator, send it to:
>>disklavier-owner@...
>>
>>To reach our group's web site go to:
>>http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier
>>
>>Todd's family web site was completely updated 01/15/03.  It contains some fun disklavier content and links to midi sites among many other things, The url is:
>>http://MuncyFamily.com 
>>
>>THINKING OF LEAVING THE GROUP?
>>If you are thinking of unsubcribing because you are getting too much mail, go the the web site and change your email delivery option instead.  That will fix the problem, while maintaining your access to the group.  If you insist on leaving us completely send a blank email to:
>>disklavier-unsubscribe@... 
>>
>>Know someone who wants to join?  Have them send a blank email to:
>>disklavier-subscribe@... or give them this link:
>>http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join 
>> 
>>
>>Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>To visit your group on the web, go to:
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disklavier/
>>
>>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>> disklavier-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>>
>>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
>>
>>
>>
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska