Disklavier

I'm new to the Disklavier world (just bought a Mark IV) so hopefully 
this question is just a lack of 'poking around' ... but it seems to 
me like there is a real lack of aftermarket 'stuff' as well as 
accessories for the Disklavier.  For example, some items I'd love to 
see:

- an extended battery for the remote (sorry, 10 minutes battery life
  just doesn't cut it, I want it to run for 3 hours!)

- a 3rd party tablet solution (surely someone could make this for a
  modest price of say $1000 rather than $4,500 for the OEM product)

- hacks for the remote interface.  I know it could be done, doesn't
  seem like anyone has done it though (maybe the market is just
  too small)?  For example, it would be great to have nested folders 
  on the small remote, rather than just a huge list of folders.
  I'd pay $50 for that 'utility' ... 

- a software utility to simply add lyrics to any existing disc/midi

- software to 'open up' the system for networking, it's Wi-Fi, I
  should be able to control it, edit contents, etc. all from my
  laptop.

anyone come across any of these types of things? 

Regards,
Jason

Sponsored Link

$200,000 mortgage for $660/mo - 30/15 yr fixed, reduce debt, home equity - Click now for info

Thanks Ken, that's a good tip. 

I'm sure my expectatations are just too high, but I'd like to be
able to leave the backlight on full strength for say 30 seconds
from last use and have the remote in my pocket for 12 hours.  Just
like my cell phone.  The remote takes a minute or so to shut down
and another minute or so to boot up, so swapping batteries isn't
for me a great solution (especially when the new battery will give
me only another 7 minutes of use or so).  I think for me at least
it's either leave it on the pad and use it that way, take it off but
only for a minute at a time, or reduce my backlight/power settings.

As a test, can someone else with the same Mark IV remote turn on
the backlight full strength and give me a sense of how long the
remote lasts if you sit there and use it (renaming songs, etc.)? 
I get 7-10 minutes of actual use before I get the Charge Battery
notification.

Regards,
Jason

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Ken Gorman <KenGorman@...> wrote:
>
> 
> Hi Jason,
> 
>  
> 
> There was some previous discussion aboutbattery life on the 
Disklavier remote.  Below is what Tom Wheeler[tnwheeler@...] wrote 
back in June.  
> 
>  
> 
> HTH,
> 
>  
> 
> Ken
> 
>  
> 
> Tom Wheeler [tnwheeler@...] wrote:
> 
> I typically get 2 hours or more on my Mark IV's PDAcontroller.  One 
possibility for the shorter time that you are getting isthat your are 
allowing the backlight to burn longer than I am.  Theduration that 
the backlight is on after each time that you touch the screen canbe 
set within the system settings.  Shorter times will give longer 
batterylife.  
> 
> Incidentally, the Li ion battery used in the Mark IV PDA controller 
is the sameas used in a Sharps Zaurus PDA and these batteries can be 
order throughAmazon.com for about $25:
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000088EDF/104-3828949-0580734?%
5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=172282
>  I ordered a new battery a few months ago from Amazon and itworks 
fine.  However, even after about 17 months ofalmost daily  usemy old 
battery was still going strong giving well over one hour of use.  
> 
> Tom
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ---------------------------------
> 
> 
> From:disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com] 
On Behalf Of jfoodman
> Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 20067:00 AM
> To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [disklavier] Hacks,accessories, after-market items
> 
> 
> [snip]
> - an extended battery for the remote (sorry, 10 minutes battery life
> just doesn't cut it, I want it to run for 3 hours!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> ---------------------------------
> Sponsored Link
> 
> $200,000 mortgage for $660/mo - 30/15 yr fixed, reduce debt, home 
equity - Click now for info
>

I have received 45 minutes use or more while using the remote and backlight
on. 

To extend battery life I always put the remote in the cradle. I use the
"continious" play feature or use the playlists I have created so I hear the
whole album or whole play list. By doing that I don't have to handle the
remote as much.

Good Luck

Neal 

  _____  

From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of jfoodman
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 7:52 AM
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [disklavier] Re: Hacks, accessories, after-market items

 

Thanks Ken, that's a good tip. 

I'm sure my expectatations are just too high, but I'd like to be
able to leave the backlight on full strength for say 30 seconds
from last use and have the remote in my pocket for 12 hours. Just
like my cell phone. The remote takes a minute or so to shut down
and another minute or so to boot up, so swapping batteries isn't
for me a great solution (especially when the new battery will give
me only another 7 minutes of use or so). I think for me at least
it's either leave it on the pad and use it that way, take it off but
only for a minute at a time, or reduce my backlight/power settings.

As a test, can someone else with the same Mark IV remote turn on
the backlight full strength and give me a sense of how long the
remote lasts if you sit there and use it (renaming songs, etc.)? 
I get 7-10 minutes of actual use before I get the Charge Battery
notification.

Regards,
Jason

--- In disklavier@yahoogro <mailto:disklavier%40yahoogroups.com> ups.com,
Ken Gorman <KenGorman@...> wrote:
>
> 
> Hi Jason,
> 
> 
> 
> There was some previous discussion aboutbattery life on the 
Disklavier remote. Below is what Tom Wheeler[tnwheeler@...] wrote 
back in June. 
> 
> 
> 
> HTH,
> 
> 
> 
> Ken
> 
> 
> 
> Tom Wheeler [tnwheeler@...] wrote:
> 
> I typically get 2 hours or more on my Mark IV's PDAcontroller. One 
possibility for the shorter time that you are getting isthat your are 
allowing the backlight to burn longer than I am. Theduration that 
the backlight is on after each time that you touch the screen canbe 
set within the system settings. Shorter times will give longer 
batterylife. 
> 
> Incidentally, the Li ion battery used in the Mark IV PDA controller 
is the sameas used in a Sharps Zaurus PDA and these batteries can be 
order throughAmazon.com for about $25:
> http://www.amazon.
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000088EDF/104-3828949-0580734?%25>
com/gp/product/B000088EDF/104-3828949-0580734?%
5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=172282
> I ordered a new battery a few months ago from Amazon and itworks 
fine. However, even after about 17 months ofalmost daily usemy old 
battery was still going strong giving well over one hour of use. 
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> 
> 
> From:disklavier@yahoogro <mailto:disklavier%40yahoogroups.com> ups.com
[mailto:disklavier@yahoogro <mailto:disklavier%40yahoogroups.com> ups.com] 
On Behalf Of jfoodman
> Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 20067:00 AM
> To: disklavier@yahoogro <mailto:disklavier%40yahoogroups.com> ups.com
> Subject: [disklavier] Hacks,accessories, after-market items
> 
> 
> [snip]
> - an extended battery for the remote (sorry, 10 minutes battery life
> just doesn't cut it, I want it to run for 3 hours!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
> Sponsored Link
> 
> $200,000 mortgage for $660/mo - 30/15 yr fixed, reduce debt, home 
equity - Click now for info
>

Making the Mark IV more of an open system would benefit the user community
greatly, especially a decade or two from now when Yamaha may have no
desire to continue supporting the product themselves.  At that point, the
Linux-based control computer will be obsolete, parts for it will be hard
to find, the PDA remote will have long since failed, etc.  Yet, the
solenoid control system and sensor "guts" of the Disklavier may still be
perfectly functional, and the piano itself will be fine.

I can easily see a third party interfacing a new front-end to those
components to keep the system going, but given the complexity of the
system, it may be difficult without help from Yamaha.  And, with the
current flurry of anti-interoperability lawsuits, by the time it becomes
necessary to do this work, it may be *illegal* without Yamaha's blessing.

Mark Fontana

Here's an idea ... we all presumably love our Disklaviers so I mean 
this in the spirit of community 'helping guide' (not complaining).  
But what if we all drafted something that outlined say our Top 
10 'wish list' items for the future (and present) and we each sent 
that list independently to Yamaha - so they hear the same thing from 
a lot of Disklavier owners?  Another way, of course, would be to send 
a single e-mail but with anyone who wanted to participates name on 
it.  Hopefully if they heard from their loyal owners they might be 
moved to adapt some of the feedback into the roadmap ... 

Or, better yet, does anyone know who the Product Manager for 
Disklavier is at Yamaha, would be great to go right to the source. 

Regards,
Jason

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Carl Youngblood <carl@...> wrote:
>
> Hear! Hear!  If anyone from Yamaha is listening, please do 
everything  
> you can to convince them to open-source the software portion of 
their  
> systems and expose public APIs whereever it makes sense to do so.   
> It's very common for hardware companies to open-source the drivers  
> for their systems, since they make money off the hardware and not 
the  
> software, and it promotes goodwill among consumers and increases 
the  
> value of their product, since they are in essence getting free 
labor  
> from hordes of hobbyists who have more time and resources to 
develop  
> the product than they do.
> 
> Carl Youngblood
> 
> On Nov 7, 2006, at 12:11 PM, Mark Fontana wrote:
> > Making the Mark IV more of an open system would benefit the user  
> > community
> > greatly, especially a decade or two from now when Yamaha may have 
no
> > desire to continue supporting the product themselves. At that  
> > point, the
> > Linux-based control computer will be obsolete, parts for it will 
be  
> > hard
> > to find, the PDA remote will have long since failed, etc. Yet, the
> > solenoid control system and sensor "guts" of the Disklavier may  
> > still be
> > perfectly functional, and the piano itself will be fine.
> >
> > I can easily see a third party interfacing a new front-end to 
those
> > components to keep the system going, but given the complexity of 
the
> > system, it may be difficult without help from Yamaha. And, with 
the

> > current flurry of anti-interoperability lawsuits, by the time it  
> > becomes
> > necessary to do this work, it may be *illegal* without Yamaha's  
> > blessing.
> >
> > Mark Fontana
>

Good morning, everyone.

On Nov 7, 2006, at 11:31 PM, Carl Scandella wrote:

>
> I'm having a problem playing MIDI files that I download from the  
> web on my Mark II Disklavier with a DKC 500R XG control unit and  
> floppy drive .  Some of them play fine and others don't play at  
> all.  Any suggestions?

Carl, is your Disklavier connected to speakers? If not, it is  
possible that MIDI tracks are playing but you are not hearing them  
because none of them are playing on the piano itself.

If that is not the problem, please tell us more. For example:

--Do these problem MIDI files show up on the Disklavier display?

--Does the Disklavier display act as though it is playing the files?

There are more questions to be asked based on your answers.

Regards,
PianoBench

TimeWarp Technologies
"changing the tempo in music software"
www.timewarptech.com

Hello Jason,

I am responsible for product development for Disklavier in the United States. I am reading everything that goes through this Disklavier group. I welcome any ideas from our customers. I sort through them and then forward them to the appropriate engineers in Japan for their consideration. 

Please keep your ideas coming!
 

Bill Brandom
Senior Technical Manager, Piano Division 
YAMAHA Corporation of America 
TEL (800) 854-1569  FAX (714) 522-9301
E-mail: bbrandom@... 
Web: http://www.yamaha.com 


>>> "jfoodman" <jasonht@...> 11/07/2006 3:54:13 PM >>>

Here's an idea ... we all presumably love our Disklaviers so I mean 
this in the spirit of community 'helping guide' (not complaining).  
But what if we all drafted something that outlined say our Top 
10 'wish list' items for the future (and present) and we each sent 
that list independently to Yamaha - so they hear the same thing from 
a lot of Disklavier owners?  Another way, of course, would be to send 
a single e-mail but with anyone who wanted to participates name on 
it.  Hopefully if they heard from their loyal owners they might be 
moved to adapt some of the feedback into the roadmap ... 

Or, better yet, does anyone know who the Product Manager for 
Disklavier is at Yamaha, would be great to go right to the source. 

Regards,
Jason

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Carl Youngblood <carl@...> wrote:
>
> Hear! Hear!  If anyone from Yamaha is listening, please do 
everything  
> you can to convince them to open-source the software portion of 
their  
> systems and expose public APIs whereever it makes sense to do so.   
> It's very common for hardware companies to open-source the drivers  
> for their systems, since they make money off the hardware and not 
the  
> software, and it promotes goodwill among consumers and increases 
the  
> value of their product, since they are in essence getting free 
labor  
> from hordes of hobbyists who have more time and resources to 
develop  
> the product than they do.
> 
> Carl Youngblood
> 
> On Nov 7, 2006, at 12:11 PM, Mark Fontana wrote:
> > Making the Mark IV more of an open system would benefit the user  
> > community
> > greatly, especially a decade or two from now when Yamaha may have 
no
> > desire to continue supporting the product themselves. At that  
> > point, the
> > Linux-based control computer will be obsolete, parts for it will 
be  
> > hard
> > to find, the PDA remote will have long since failed, etc. Yet, the
> > solenoid control system and sensor "guts" of the Disklavier may  
> > still be
> > perfectly functional, and the piano itself will be fine.
> >
> > I can easily see a third party interfacing a new front-end to 
those
> > components to keep the system going, but given the complexity of 
the
> > system, it may be difficult without help from Yamaha. And, with 
the
> > current flurry of anti-interoperability lawsuits, by the time it  
> > becomes
> > necessary to do this work, it may be *illegal* without Yamaha's  
> > blessing.
> >
> > Mark Fontana
>





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 012/22/03.  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

Bill,

It is good to see your response to Jason, and I am sure that all of us 
on this forum appreciate your participation and for your listening and 
forwarding our ideas to the engineers in Japan who do the programming 
for the Mark IV. 

I would like to suggest a few ideas, some of which I have been 
requesting for over two years now. 

(1) A search function.  The necessity for this is readily appreciated by 
anyone who has a large number of files on their disklavier and tries to 
find a particular song or artist.  Right now it is  impossible to do so. 

(2) A larger internal HD drive for the Mark IV.  Initially an 80 GB 
internal HD for the Mark IV seems like a lot of drive space, and it is 
if one is only storing midi files on the HD.  However, the Mark IV 
stores CD's (required for PianoSoft Plus Audio and Smart Piano Yamaha 
software) as .wav files.  These take up a huge amount of space, and it 
is easily possible to consume all of the capacity of the Mark IV's 80 GB 
HD when one begins storing CD's on the internal HD.  In fact, I have 
already done so, and because my internal HD on my Mark IV has very 
little free space remaining, I no longer purchase Yamaha software since 
I have no where to store it.  Please note that it is NOT possible to use 
an external USB HD to store any of the Yamaha software that requires 
CD's due to copy protection issues and thus one has no choice but to use 
the internal HD of the Mark IV.  The Mark IV is modular in construction 
and replacing the internal HD of the Mark IV with a larger Yamaha 
approved HD should be possible.  I would strongly urge Yamaha to make a 
larger HD available for the Mark IV. 

(3) Enable the Yamaha TRC-100 tablet remote to connect wirelessly to the 
Internet and download files directly to either the Mark IV's internal HD 
or (if the files are not copy protected) to an external USB HD.  It is 
illogical that we have a fine wirelessly controlled disklavier and 
absolutely no way to interact with the internet from the Mark IV to 
download files.  This feature is long overdue! 

(4) Since purchasing the Mark IV, I have found the tablet remote (the 
TRC-100) to be of little or no use.  In fact, the pocket remote 
(PRC-100) has many capabilities that the larger TRC-100 does not have.  
I would urge Yamaha to provide software that makes full use of the 
capabilities of the TRC-100.  This would not only include wireless 
access to the Internet for midi file downloading, but other features as 
well.  One perfect example would be Yamaha's own Digital Music Notebook 
software.  This software, running on the TRC-100 remote, would allow a 
vast range of teaching/student interactions not now possible on the Mark 
IV.  I am sure there are many other examples of software that could run 
on the TRC-100 that I am not aware of that others might suggest. 

I will close by pointing out several of the features I am requesting for 
the Mark IV are already available on some Yamaha clavinovas which are 
able to wirelessly download software from the Internet.  The Mark IV is 
a VERY expensive Yamaha instrument.  The Mark IV should represent the 
pinnacle of what Yamaha is able to do with their instruments.  Many of 
us purchased the Mark IV expecting features to be added at regular 
intervals.  While this has occurred to a small extent with the version 
1.20 software, I have been disappointed in how slow Yamaha Japan has 
been to enable features clearly supported by the basic hardware of the 
Mark IV. 

I hope that if others share my interest in any of the above features 
(and others that I have not mentioned) they will add their voice to my 
own pleas for these features.

Tom Wheeler

Bill Brandom wrote:

>Hello Jason,
>
>I am responsible for product development for Disklavier in the United States. I am reading everything that goes through this Disklavier group. I welcome any ideas from our customers. I sort through them and then forward them to the appropriate engineers in Japan for their consideration. 
>
>Please keep your ideas coming!
> 
>
>Bill Brandom
>Senior Technical Manager, Piano Division 
>YAMAHA Corporation of America 
>TEL (800) 854-1569  FAX (714) 522-9301
>E-mail: bbrandom@... 
>Web: http://www.yamaha.com 
>
>
>  
>
>>>>"jfoodman" <jasonht@...> 11/07/2006 3:54:13 PM >>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>
>Here's an idea ... we all presumably love our Disklaviers so I mean 
>this in the spirit of community 'helping guide' (not complaining).  
>But what if we all drafted something that outlined say our Top 
>10 'wish list' items for the future (and present) and we each sent 
>that list independently to Yamaha - so they hear the same thing from 
>a lot of Disklavier owners?  Another way, of course, would be to send 
>a single e-mail but with anyone who wanted to participates name on 
>it.  Hopefully if they heard from their loyal owners they might be 
>moved to adapt some of the feedback into the roadmap ... 
>
>Or, better yet, does anyone know who the Product Manager for 
>Disklavier is at Yamaha, would be great to go right to the source. 
>
>Regards,
>Jason
>
>--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Carl Youngblood <carl@...> wrote:
>  
>
>>Hear! Hear!  If anyone from Yamaha is listening, please do 
>>    
>>
>everything  
>  
>
>>you can to convince them to open-source the software portion of 
>>    
>>
>their  
>  
>
>>systems and expose public APIs whereever it makes sense to do so.   
>>It's very common for hardware companies to open-source the drivers  
>>for their systems, since they make money off the hardware and not 
>>    
>>
>the  
>  
>
>>software, and it promotes goodwill among consumers and increases 
>>    
>>
>the  
>  
>
>>value of their product, since they are in essence getting free 
>>    
>>
>labor  
>  
>
>>from hordes of hobbyists who have more time and resources to 
>>    
>>
>develop  
>  
>
>>the product than they do.
>>
>>Carl Youngblood
>>
>>On Nov 7, 2006, at 12:11 PM, Mark Fontana wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Making the Mark IV more of an open system would benefit the user  
>>>community
>>>greatly, especially a decade or two from now when Yamaha may have 
>>>      
>>>
>no
>  
>
>>>desire to continue supporting the product themselves. At that  
>>>point, the
>>>Linux-based control computer will be obsolete, parts for it will 
>>>      
>>>
>be  
>  
>
>>>hard
>>>to find, the PDA remote will have long since failed, etc. Yet, the
>>>solenoid control system and sensor "guts" of the Disklavier may  
>>>still be
>>>perfectly functional, and the piano itself will be fine.
>>>
>>>I can easily see a third party interfacing a new front-end to 
>>>      
>>>
>those
>  
>
>>>components to keep the system going, but given the complexity of 
>>>      
>>>
>the
>  
>
>>>system, it may be difficult without help from Yamaha. And, with 
>>>      
>>>
>the
>  
>
>>>current flurry of anti-interoperability lawsuits, by the time it  
>>>becomes
>>>necessary to do this work, it may be *illegal* without Yamaha's  
>>>blessing.
>>>
>>>Mark Fontana
>>>      
>>>
>
>
>
>
>
>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 012/22/03.  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 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 012/22/03.  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
>
>
>
>
>
>  
>

Bill,

It is good to see your response to Jason, and I am sure that all of us 
on this forum appreciate your participation and for your listening and 
forwarding our ideas to the engineers in Japan who do the programming 
for the Mark IV. 

I would like to suggest a few ideas, some of which I have been 
requesting for over two years now. 

(1) A search function.  The necessity for this is readily appreciated by 
anyone who has a large number of files on their disklavier and tries to 
find a particular song or artist.  Right now it is  impossible to do so. 

(2) A larger internal HD drive for the Mark IV.  Initially an 80 GB 
internal HD for the Mark IV seems like a lot of drive space, and it is 
if one is only storing midi files on the HD.  However, the Mark IV 
stores CD's (required for PianoSoft Plus Audio and Smart Piano Yamaha 
software) as .wav files.  These take up a huge amount of space, and it 
is easily possible to consume all of the capacity of the Mark IV's 80 GB 
HD when one begins storing CD's on the internal HD.  In fact, I have 
already done so, and because my internal HD on my Mark IV has very 
little free space remaining, I no longer purchase Yamaha software since 
I have no where to store it.  Please note that it is NOT possible to use 
an external USB HD to store any of the Yamaha software that requires 
CD's due to copy protection issues and thus one has no choice but to use 
the internal HD of the Mark IV.  The Mark IV is modular in construction 
and replacing the internal HD of the Mark IV with a larger Yamaha 
approved HD should be possible.  I would strongly urge Yamaha to make a 
larger HD available for the Mark IV. 

(3) Enable the Yamaha TRC-100 tablet remote to connect wirelessly to the 
Internet and download files directly to either the Mark IV's internal HD 
or (if the files are not copy protected) to an external USB HD.  It is 
illogical that we have a fine wirelessly controlled disklavier and 
absolutely no way to interact with the internet from the Mark IV to 
download files.  This feature is long overdue! 

(4) Since purchasing the Mark IV, I have found the tablet remote (the 
TRC-100) to be of little or no use.  In fact, the pocket remote 
(PRC-100) has many capabilities that the larger TRC-100 does not have.  
I would urge Yamaha to provide software that makes full use of the 
capabilities of the TRC-100.  This would not only include wireless 
access to the Internet for midi file downloading, but other features as 
well.  One perfect example would be Yamaha's own Digital Music Notebook 
software.  This software, running on the TRC-100 remote, would allow a 
vast range of teaching/student interactions not now possible on the Mark 
IV.  I am sure there are many other examples of software that could run 
on the TRC-100 that I am not aware of that others might suggest. 

I will close by pointing out several of the features I am requesting for 
the Mark IV are already available on some Yamaha clavinovas which are 
able to wirelessly download software from the Internet.  The Mark IV is 
a VERY expensive Yamaha instrument.  The Mark IV should represent the 
pinnacle of what Yamaha is able to do with their instruments.  Many of 
us purchased the Mark IV expecting features to be added at regular 
intervals.  While this has occurred to a small extent with the version 
1.20 software, I have been disappointed in how slow Yamaha Japan has 
been to enable features clearly supported by the basic hardware of the 
Mark IV. 

I hope that if others share my interest in any of the above features 
(and others that I have not mentioned) they will add their voice to my 
own pleas for these features.

Tom Wheeler

Bill Brandom wrote:

Hello Jason,

I am responsible for product development for Disklavier in the United States. I am reading everything that goes through this Disklavier group. I welcome any ideas from our customers. I sort through them and then forward them to the appropriate engineers in Japan for their consideration. 

Please keep your ideas coming!
 

Bill Brandom
Senior Technical Manager, Piano Division 
YAMAHA Corporation of America 
TEL (800) 854-1569  FAX (714) 522-9301
E-mail: bbrandom@... 
Web: http://www.yamaha.com 


  

>>>"jfoodman" <jasonht@...> 11/07/2006 3:54:13 PM >>>
>>>        
>>>

Here's an idea ... we all presumably love our Disklaviers so I mean 
this in the spirit of community 'helping guide' (not complaining).  
But what if we all drafted something that outlined say our Top 
10 'wish list' items for the future (and present) and we each sent 
that list independently to Yamaha - so they hear the same thing from 
a lot of Disklavier owners?  Another way, of course, would be to send 
a single e-mail but with anyone who wanted to participates name on 
it.  Hopefully if they heard from their loyal owners they might be 
moved to adapt some of the feedback into the roadmap ... 

Or, better yet, does anyone know who the Product Manager for 
Disklavier is at Yamaha, would be great to go right to the source. 

Regards,
Jason

Bill,

 

I echo wholeheartedly Tom's comments both in terms of appreciating your
participation in this message board and the requests for enhancements that
Tom made. Unfortunately though, your comments highlight a further issue, in
that, I have been following two Disklavier message boards in which you
participate and it is now clear that Yamaha has been receiving this features
feedback for approaching two years and are either failing to act at all or
quickly enough.

 

I purchased a Mark IV in the summer last year anticipating that the wireless
and wired network features and integration to the internet and my home
network would make available the highest level of features within the Yamaha
range of piano and keyboards. It is farcical that these features are being
offered in less expensive and less well equipped Clavinova range keyboards
and not in the flagship Disklavier range. Also, given then complexity of
computing power strapped to the underside of the Disklavier and the relative
ease with which enhancements can be made to the function of the software on
this device, I awaited with great anticipation the arrival of the version
1.2 update software and, in the main, was disappointed with the both the
lack of progress and specifically the lack of rate of progress in making
more of the advanced functionality available that was "promised" in the
presales marketing materials and demonstrations. 

 

Yamaha may consider these points minor, but I am at least one disappointed
customer of Yamaha who currently feels unable to recommend Disklavier to
friends and colleagues not because of the potential or quality of the
instrument but because of Yamaha's apparent lack of development of the
potential that was originally sold. 

 

I feel let down and frustrated by Yamaha's development of the Disklavier and
given the consistent feedback by others on this group and the lack of
progress by Yamaha in the past eighteen months, I am not convinced that our
dissatisfaction is important to anyone at Yamaha.

 

Ian Woof

-----Original Message-----
From: disklavier@yahoogroups.com [mailto:disklavier@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Tom Wheeler
Sent: 08 November 2006 23:24
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [SPAM][disklavier] Re: feedback to yamaha

 

Bill,

It is good to see your response to Jason, and I am sure that all of us on
this forum appreciate your participation and for your listening and
forwarding our ideas to the engineers in Japan who do the programming for
the Mark IV.  

I would like to suggest a few ideas, some of which I have been requesting
for over two years now.  

(1) A search function.  The necessity for this is readily appreciated by
anyone who has a large number of files on their disklavier and tries to find
a particular song or artist.  Right now it is  impossible to do so.  

(2) A larger internal HD drive for the Mark IV.  Initially an 80 GB internal
HD for the Mark IV seems like a lot of drive space, and it is if one is only
storing midi files on the HD.  However, the Mark IV stores CD's (required
for PianoSoft Plus Audio and Smart Piano Yamaha software) as .wav files.
These take up a huge amount of space, and it is easily possible to consume
all of the capacity of the Mark IV's 80 GB HD when one begins storing CD's
on the internal HD.  In fact, I have already done so, and because my
internal HD on my Mark IV has very little free space remaining, I no longer
purchase Yamaha software since I have no where to store it.  Please note
that it is NOT possible to use an external USB HD to store any of the Yamaha
software that requires CD's due to copy protection issues and thus one has
no choice but to use the internal HD of the Mark IV.  The Mark IV is modular
in construction and replacing the internal HD of the Mark IV with a larger
Yamaha approved HD should be possible.  I would strongly urge Yamaha to make
a larger HD available for the Mark IV.  

(3) Enable the Yamaha TRC-100 tablet remote to connect wirelessly to the
Internet and download files directly to either the Mark IV's internal HD or
(if the files are not copy protected) to an external USB HD.  It is
illogical that we have a fine wirelessly controlled disklavier and
absolutely no way to interact with the internet from the Mark IV to download
files.  This feature is long overdue!  

(4) Since purchasing the Mark IV, I have found the tablet remote (the
TRC-100) to be of little or no use.  In fact, the pocket remote (PRC-100)
has many capabilities that the larger TRC-100 does not have.  I would urge
Yamaha to provide software that makes full use of the capabilities of the
TRC-100.  This would not only include wireless access to the Internet for
midi file downloading, but other features as well.  One perfect example
would be Yamaha's own Digital Music Notebook software.  This software,
running on the TRC-100 remote, would allow a vast range of teaching/student
interactions not now possible on the Mark IV.  I am sure there are many
other examples of software that could run on the TRC-100 that I am not aware
of that others might suggest.  

I will close by pointing out several of the features I am requesting for the
Mark IV are already available on some Yamaha clavinovas which are able to
wirelessly download software from the Internet.  The Mark IV is a VERY
expensive Yamaha instrument.  The Mark IV should represent the pinnacle of
what Yamaha is able to do with their instruments.  Many of us purchased the
Mark IV expecting features to be added at regular intervals.  While this has
occurred to a small extent with the version 1.20 software, I have been
disappointed in how slow Yamaha Japan has been to enable features clearly
supported by the basic hardware of the Mark IV.  

I hope that if others share my interest in any of the above features (and
others that I have not mentioned) they will add their voice to my own pleas
for these features.

Tom Wheeler

Bill Brandom wrote:

Hello Jason,
 
I am responsible for product development for Disklavier in the United
States. I am reading everything that goes through this Disklavier group. I
welcome any ideas from our customers. I sort through them and then forward
them to the appropriate engineers in Japan for their consideration. 
 
Please keep your ideas coming!
 
 
Bill Brandom
Senior Technical Manager, Piano Division 
YAMAHA Corporation of America 
TEL (800) 854-1569  FAX (714) 522-9301
E-mail: bbrandom@yamaha. <mailto:bbrandom@...> com 
Web: http://www.yamaha. <http://www.yamaha.com> com 
 
 
  

"jfoodman"  <mailto:jasonht@...> <jasonht@...> 11/07/2006
3:54:13 PM >>>
        

 
Here's an idea ... we all presumably love our Disklaviers so I mean 
this in the spirit of community 'helping guide' (not complaining).  
But what if we all drafted something that outlined say our Top 
10 'wish list' items for the future (and present) and we each sent 
that list independently to Yamaha - so they hear the same thing from 
a lot of Disklavier owners?  Another way, of course, would be to send 
a single e-mail but with anyone who wanted to participates name on 
it.  Hopefully if they heard from their loyal owners they might be 
moved to adapt some of the feedback into the roadmap ... 
 
Or, better yet, does anyone know who the Product Manager for 
Disklavier is at Yamaha, would be great to go right to the source. 
 
Regards,
Jason

Does the new Apple macbook pro with intel chip work with Disklavier software?

Thanks

Bob
Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless  

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Youngblood <carl@youngbloods.org>
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 17:33:27 
To:disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [disklavier] Re: feedback to yamaha

You might want to add a request to transcode CDs into a more compressed format, such as FLAC, AAC or MP3.  There is no good reason why they should not be ripping the CDs into a more compressed format.

 


Carl


On Nov 8, 2006, at 10:32 AM, Tom Wheeler wrote:



(2) A larger internal HD drive for the Mark IV.  Initially an 80 GB internal HD for the Mark IV seems like a lot of drive space, and it is if one is only storing midi files on the HD.  However, the Mark IV stores CD's (required for PianoSoft Plus Audio and Smart Piano Yamaha software) as .wav files.  These take up a huge amount of space, and it is easily possible to consume all of the capacity of the Mark IV's 80 GB HD when one begins storing CD's on the internal HD.  In fact, I have already done so, and because my internal HD on my Mark IV has very little free space remaining, I no longer purchase Yamaha software since I have no where to store it.  Please note that it is NOT possible to use an external USB HD to store any of the Yamaha software that requires CD's due to copy protection issues and thus one has no choice but to use the internal HD of the Mark IV.  The Mark IV is modular in construction and replacing the internal HD of the Mark IV with a larger Yamaha approved HD should be possible.  I would strongly urge Yamaha to make a larger HD available for the Mark IV.

A nice idea, but I think that is unlikely to happen. The Japanese 
mindset doesn't seem to cope particularly well with the idea of open 
source (not that the western world does either).

However, Yamaha do have an obligation to give customers the source code 
for the portions of GPL code they have modified. Looking at the 
disklavier update, there are modifications of the distribution they have 
used, but I haven't looked further to see if there are additions to the 
kernel or other software present.

It would be really cool if Yamaha did go further down the open source 
route, and make the code for the main GUI and core recording / playback 
features available. They wouldn't have to disclose the details of their 
CD / pianosmart encoding formats as this could remain a closed source 
module, but it would allow third party developers to add all sorts of 
cool features (ignoring the fact that there are at least two 
implementations of the Yamaha Pianosoft+Audio format out there, and 
numerous ESEQ implementations).

I suspect the main reason against providing the code is the risk of 
increased support costs - users could get viruses on their system, or 
potentially destroy the operating system and lose their data, and so 
Yamaha may want to distance themselves from this.

Ah well, we can dream I guess - like I have to dream about a Mark IV 
upright ;-)

Regards,

James

Carl Youngblood wrote:

> I don't have a disklavier but hope to own one someday when I win the 
> lottery.  However, I bet it would not be too hard to hack into the 
> computer and change the software.  It would be a lot easier if Yamaha 
> would simply open-source everything, which would allow hobbyists to 
> improve it to their hearts' content.  But it could probably still be 
> done by a clever hacker.  I think the real reason you haven't seen a 
> lot of this already is that the barrier to entry is so high.  Low-end 
> commodity computer peripherals get hacked liked crazy and before you 
> know there are hundreds of sites where you can download firmware 
> upgrades and new features, but disklaviers are so expensive that they 
> aren't ever going to get any attention.
>
> On Nov 9, 2006, at 1:56 AM, Ian Woof wrote:
>
>>
>> Bill,
>>
>>  
>>
>> I echo wholeheartedly Tom\ufffds comments both in terms of appreciating 
>> your participation in this message board and the requests for 
>> enhancements that Tom made. Unfortunately though, your comments 
>> highlight a further issue, in that, I have been following two 
>> Disklavier message boards in which you participate and it is now 
>> clear that Yamaha has been receiving this features feedback for 
>> approaching two years and are either failing to act at all or quickly 
>> enough.
>>
>