Re: [disklavier] Nat King Cole "Unforgettable" Diskette
2000-04-29 by Todd Muncy
Thanks for the warning Jim. I too have been disappointed with Yamaha software on more than one occasion. I find it curious that, although I monitor DUG, I only received this message on our egroup board. I haven't received anything on the DUG group for a few days. Did anyone see this posting on DUG? Todd Muncy <(���)> disklavier-owner@... Check out my family website which includes a disklavier music page. http://MuncyFamily.com
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----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Gerren To: disklavier@egroups.com Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2000 1:00 AM Subject: [disklavier] Nat King Cole "Unforgettable" Diskette 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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@egroups.com To reach our group's web site go to: http://egroups.com/group/disklavier To visit Todd's family web site that contains some fun disklavier content among other things, go to: 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@...