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A novel idea for playing midi from PC

A novel idea for playing midi from PC

2004-03-07 by Walt Sharpe

I stumbled across a novel way to play a collection of piano midis on the
Internet. I thought I'd share it with the group. Here's the home page:
http://hymnsite.com/

Download and extract this free zip file:
http://www.hymnsite.com/zipzone/hymndisk.zip
It's a little self contained web site which includes all the midis and files
it needs to run right on your own hard drive or floppy. No Internet
connection is needed once you have it extracted on your own computer.
There's no software to install. It plays on whatever midi player you have
set up on your PC to play midi's from a web page. I have mine set up to play
through a usb-midi adapter into my Disklavier controller's midi input.

Try the link above to directly download the zip file or go to
 http://www.HymnSite.com/hymnstor
and click the "Hymn Disks" link on the left frame. Then click the "Floppy
Download" link:
 http://hymnsite.com/hymnstor/hymndisk.sht#Floppy
Look at the frame on the right and scroll down to the "Download Now" link

This is a collection of hymns from the Methodist Hymnal. As they play you
can read the words on the screen and sing along if you want. They were all
sequenced by CARadke@....

Walt

Re: [disklavier] A novel idea for playing midi from PC

2004-03-07 by GDPERRY@aol.com

Walt,
Thanks for the great idea. I'm in the need of USB/MIDI adapter like the one 
you use. What brand and model is it? I have a ThinkPad 600E that has no sounds 
or midi drivers. I hope I can do what you have done.
Glen

Re: [disklavier] A novel idea for playing midi from PC

2004-03-08 by Walt Sharpe

Glen,
I have the Midiman Midisport 2x2. The company is now known as M-Audio. Here are some links:
This company is probably a safe bet because they are big in Midi. I could have bought the 1x1 just as well and saved $20 because I only need 1 in and 1 out, not 2 since the Disklavier is the only midi instrument I own. I picked it up at a big music store Dave Phillips In Phillipsburg NJ only because my local Dave Phillips store in Flemington didn't have any in stock at the time 2 years ago. I saw that they have a very inexpensive 1x1 one in stock now. That one does not require a separate power adapter because it gets it's power from the PC.
Walt
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: [disklavier] A novel idea for playing midi from PC

Walt,
Thanks for the great idea. I'm in the need of USB/MIDI adapter like the one
you use. What brand and model is it? I have a ThinkPad 600E that has no sounds
or midi drivers. I hope I can do what you have done.

Re: [disklavier] A novel idea for playing midi from PC

2004-03-08 by Walt Sharpe

Glenn,
A few more things. Tech Support at Yamaha recommended VanBasco.com for a free midi player. It has a slider that you can use to adjust the volume/jvelocity and will remember your settings on the playlist for each song. A lot of the midi's you download on the Internet have too much volume/velocity and play the Disklavier too hard. That could overheat the key solenoids and beat up the moving parts and felt on the hammers etc.
Go to the section in your manual for Receiving Data from a Midi Sequencer and learn the settings. The Prg(all) setting works best for me for Midi's from the Internet.
The best way to find midi's on the Internet is to go to http://www.google.com/ search window, put the most unique part of a song title or a composer's name in quotes (if it's more than one word) and then add a + symbol and the word midi or you can even add the composer's name like the below. I used this to find the Spinning Song my sister used to play when I was a kid.
"spinning song"+ellmenreich+midi
Or "elton John"+mid
Here's another interesting search:
"heart and soul"+midi
I found a big collection of piano oldies
plus the old time favorite the kids used to bang out on the piano at summer camp - "Heart and Soul"
Here it is:
Another version:
I was looking for a song about a local inn. The Stockton NJ Inn. It's a Rogers & Hart tune called There's a Small Hotel.
I did this search "Small Hotel"+midi and came up with this great site:
Another good search is "piano solo"+midi
Or take a guess at a midi file name like this:
"i love a piano.mid"
Walt
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: [disklavier] A novel idea for playing midi from PC

Walt,
Thanks for the great idea. I'm in the need of USB/MIDI adapter like the one
you use. What brand and model is it? I have a ThinkPad 600E that has no sounds
or midi drivers. I hope I can do what you have done.
Glen

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