Fw: [disklavier] What is a Yahama MX1?
2005-02-11 by Robert LeBlanc
Jeff,
The following information is taken from an article
that is quite dated now. However, the explanation and background it
provides on Yamaha's Disklavier pianos, Yamaha's XG format, etc., is
still relevant today, and equally applies to your MX1 piano. The DSR1
device you mentioned, and the DKC500RW XG control unit I talked about both
have the same internal MIDI tone generator (DGH1BXG) functionality and
sound set referred to in the article.
Reproduced from:
Yamaha XG Xtra Newsletter
Vol. I No. 6 May, 1996
Vol. I No. 6 May, 1996
Yamaha Corporation of America
Editor: Michael G. D'Amore
Associate Editor: Howard Massey
Production by: On the Right Wavelength
Editor: Michael G. D'Amore
Associate Editor: Howard Massey
Production by: On the Right Wavelength
The XG Disklavier
==============
The XG revolution is beginning to spread far and
wide, with the XG logo making its appearance on more and more products.
Perhaps the most unique of all is the brand new Yamaha DGH1BXG
Disklavier(tm) grand piano, unveiled at the 1996 Winter NAMM show.
Many people consider the Yamaha Disklavier to be
the player piano of the twentieth century. This incredible technology enables
standard acoustic pianos to be constructed with a patented mechanical system
that drives both the keys and pedals in response to MIDI sequence data being
played back from an onboard floppy drive or coming from an external source via a
MIDI input jack. As the MIDI data is received, the Disklavier keys and
pedals magically move up and down, as if it were actually being played!
This has applications in both home entertainment (where you can, for example,
sit in the comfort of your living room and hear the music of George
Gershwin actually being played on your acoustic piano by Gershwin) and in
education, where music students can learn playing techniques and arrangements by
literally watching and/or playing along. There are currently more than 300
disks (called PianoSoft(tm) and PianoSoftPlus(tm)) available for the Disklavier
which contain the left-hand, right-hand, and pedal parts recorded on
separate MIDI channels and, of course, since these are MIDI sequences, they
can be played back at any tempo that is comfortable and/or transposed into any
key you like.
Disklaviers are also equipped with an onboard MIDI
tone generator, enabling complete ensemble backing for acoustic piano parts. Up
until now, the tone generators used by Disklaviers have been simply
GM-compatible, but the DGH1BXG is the first to contain a fully XG-compatible
tone generator - the Yamaha WaveForce DB50XG daughterboard - within the piano's
compact computer control unit. The end result is a beautiful 5' 3" grand piano,
combined with 676 high-quality wavetable voices, 21 drum kits, and extensive DSP
functions, including 11 reverb settings, 11 chorus settings, and numerous
Variation settings such as distortion, rotary speaker, flanger, and delay.
Another unique feature offered by Disklaviers
is half-pedaling, whereby 16 incremented steps of variable pedal values are
accepted for Sustain and Soft pedal (cc #64 and #67) in addition to the
simple On-Off (00h or 7Fh) switching normally used for these controllers.
This enables the accurate replication of the subtle pedalling of a trained
pianist.
In addition, the DGH1BXG can play back any
type 0 GM or XG SMF stored on a DOS-formatted 3-1/2" floppy disk. There are
three standard Disklavier song types. The standard mapping for
so-called "Normal" songs is:
Track 1 (MIDI channel 1): Piano part (left and right hand) plus pedal on-off data
Track 3 (MIDI channel 3): Continuous pedal data (half-pedaling)
Track 1 (MIDI channel 1): Piano part (left and right hand) plus pedal on-off data
Track 3 (MIDI channel 3): Continuous pedal data (half-pedaling)
For educational purposes, it is often desirable to
separate out the left- and right-hand piano parts. This is the purpose of
Disklavier "L/R" songs, mapped as follows:
Track 1 (MIDI channel 1): Left-hand piano part plus pedal on-off data
Track 2 (MIDI channel 2): Right-hand piano part plus duplicate of pedal on-off data
Track 3 (MIDI channel 3): Continuous pedal data (half-pedaling)
Track 1 (MIDI channel 1): Left-hand piano part plus pedal on-off data
Track 2 (MIDI channel 2): Right-hand piano part plus duplicate of pedal on-off data
Track 3 (MIDI channel 3): Continuous pedal data (half-pedaling)
The third type of standard Disklavier song is
called "Ensemble." This uses exactly the same mapping as the "L/R"
song for MIDI channels 1-3; however, additional accompanying instrument sounds
(played by the onboard tone generator) can be added to channels 4-16 (as with
GM, channel 10 is used as a rhythm part).
The Disklavier is not limited to playing just these
song types, however, since there is also provision for remapping individual
tracks to specific MIDI channels. Any two MIDI channels (one for the
right-hand part and one for the lefthand part) can be assigned to drive the
Disklavier playback mechanism (though Yamaha recommends using channels 1 or 2
for this
purpose). This means that the DGH1BXG can play back any XG music file-and if the file contains one or two tracks meant to play a wavetable piano program, the sound of a real piano can be substituted!
purpose). This means that the DGH1BXG can play back any XG music file-and if the file contains one or two tracks meant to play a wavetable piano program, the sound of a real piano can be substituted!
One last interesting note. Because the
Disklavier uses a mechanical solenoid system to drive the piano keys and pedals,
received MIDI data is not played instantly, as it is on a synthesizer. There is
a slight delay, which will vary according to note number and key velocity.
But the DGH1BXG is smart enough to factor this in, automatically applying the
required delay time to incoming MIDI data so as to ensure perfect
synchronization between the piano part(s) and the accompanying parts being
played by the internal DB50XG tone generator.
Keep an eye out for the new DGH1BXG at your local
piano dealer - it represents the marriage of the Disklavier and XG, two
truly amazing technologies in one amazing instrument!
Regards,
Robert LeBlanc
----- Original Message -----
From: jeff_paddock
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 6:24 AM
Subject: [disklavier] What is a Yahama MX1?
I have just purchased a Yahama MX1 PE with a DSR1. I have not been
able to find out exactly what an MX1 is. Is there another description
for the above configuration? Also, there is a large cable coming from
the lower right rear of the piano with a 15 pin male connector. What
is this cable used for?
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