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Nat King Cole "Unforgettable" Diskette

Nat King Cole "Unforgettable" Diskette

2000-04-29 by Jim Gerren

For those of you who don't visit DUG, please read the following 
message I posted there.
===============================================

Dear Duggers,
 
I've been a member of DUG for over three years.  You've never heard 
from me before as I tend to be a quiet person, usually keeping my 
opinions and feelings to myself.  But I am now breaking my silence in 
hopes that other DUG members don't make the same costly mistake I 
made.
 
Being an avid Nat King Cole fan, I've been pondering for several 
weeks, the purchase of Yamaha's PianoSoft Plus diskette 00506056 - 
Nat King Cole Collection - "Unforgettable" album.  So, this evening, 
I went to http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com and downloaded the file.  
With great anticipation, I immediately inserted the diskette into my 
disklavier, expecting to hear great music for the next 30 to 40 
minutes.
 
What a disappointment!  The first problem I encountered was over-
powering bass, having to totally eliminate the bass by adjusting my 
amplifier bass control.  Apparently, Yamaha doesn't have recording 
standards relating to volume levels on XG files, as I've found that 
bass and other instrumentation volume levels, in relation to the 
piano volume level, can vary widely from disk to disk.
 
My second disappointment was with the orchestration accompaniment.  I 
don't expect synthesized instruments to sound exactly like the 
instruments they are emulating, although some of the voices do sound 
remarkably like the real thing.  But bending the pitch of 
instruments, which does occur on this diskette, is a total turn-off.  
Obviously, the person(s) making the recording must have thought 
it "cute".  I didn't.  Additionally, the instrumentation was slightly 
out of synch with the piano at times.
 
As for the pianist?  On a scale of 1 to 10 for professional pianists 
(which you would expect from Yamaha), I would rate this a 4, and that 
might be generous.  Timing was a bit off on some songs and, at least 
to my ears, there were mistakes in the playing.  This is 
unacceptable, as the file can be edited to remove mistakes.  Perhaps 
it's just me.  The mistakes were not blatant, but they were there.
 
If I didn't know any better, I'd almost guess the songs on this disk 
were downloaded from one of those midi internet sites where amateur 
musicians upload their works.  In fact, I've downloaded better from 
some of those sites.
 
And, as if I weren't disappointed enough, the diskette lasted for 
only 26 minutes!  That's right, 26 minutes for $34.95, and I 
furnished the double density diskette.  Shame on you, Yamaha.  Where 
is your PianoSoft quality control?  And don't you feel just a bit 
guilty for gouging your loyal customers?
 
Regards,
Jim Gerren

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