Disklavier

I have just joined. I'm keen on getting the best web sites for
downloading smooth, relaxing jazz piano and jazz christmas piano
diskclavier music.
Further, any suggestions for the best collection at a web site for
classical vocal music accompaniment.
Fraser

Hello Everyone,

In a message dated 12/17/00 3:35:12 PM, Fraser writes:

<< Further, any suggestions for the best collection at a web site for
classical vocal music accompaniment. >>

Check out MusAcom:

http://www.musacom.com

This is a brand, new e-commerce site from Houston Texas. I have observed some 
of the recordings as they were done. They have worked with the best vocal 
accompanists, all of whom recorded on a Disklavier.

Regards,
PianoBench

I have a MarkII XG Disklavier which is wonderful-I have downloaded tons of music from the internet, most of which is quite good. I still have a great deal of difficulty directly connecting my laptop to the piano to screen stuff to see if it sounds great. I usually have to copy
the music to a floppy, then try it out on the piano. If it is no good, I have to re-trace my steps and delete the file from the hard drive. For a connection of my laptop to the piano, do I have to play the music with special music software or can I output it to the piano with a
Windows media player?
Fraser

PianoBench@... wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> In a message dated 12/17/00 3:35:12 PM, Fraser writes:
>
> << Further, any suggestions for the best collection at a web site for
> classical vocal music accompaniment. >>
>
> Check out MusAcom:
>
> http://www.musacom.com
>
> This is a brand, new e-commerce site from Houston Texas. I have observed some
> of the recordings as they were done. They have worked with the best vocal
> accompanists, all of whom recorded on a Disklavier.
>
> Regards,
> PianoBench
>
>
> 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@...

Fraser,

I suggest you add two items to your laptop: 

1) A MIDI interface.  Most musical instument stores that carry electronic
keyboards have them.  MIDI interfaces are available that will attach to your
laptop's parallel port, or, better if you have it, a USB port.  You will then
attach a standard MIDI cable between the laptop's MIDI out connector and the
DKV's MIDI in connector.  

2) A MIDI editor/sequencer program.  The least costly and quite functional is PG
Music's Power Tracks (http://www.pgmusic.com/).  Cakewalk and many others will
also work.  A MIDI editor is quite useful as you will often find that downloaded
MIDI files have A) the piano part assigned to a channel other than 1 and B)  key
velocities that are too high for comfort.  With an editor, it is a simple matter
to change the MIDI channel assigments to match the DKV and XG instruments.  The
sequencer feature of the program is the software that reads your MIDI files and
drives the DKV.

As you become more experienced playing downloaded files, here are a couple tips:

1)  Look at the note velocities and note timing and durations of a file.  If the
velocities are all of the same or several fixed values, that means that someone
step-sequenced the file, not played it in real time.  Depending upon your taste,
while it may be a file something someone slaved over, artistically it is
probably junk.  The same holds for note timing and durations.

2)  If you're tired of shuffling through your collection of disks, including
Pianosoft, why not arrange all your files in MIDI format and in appropriate
folders on your HD and play them from your laptop?  You may use the PlayList
feature of your sequencer to set up customized programs of music.  

Something you'll discover is that some files, such as many PianoSoft, operate
the pedals using continuous pedal data directed to MIDI channel 3.  To insure
that the pedals respond to that continuous data, set the DKV's MIDI in channel
to "CH=HP".  Most other downloaded files contain only ON/OFF data directed to
channel 1.  In that case, set it to "CH=01".

Good luck!

Fraser Rubens wrote:
> 
> I have a MarkII XG Disklavier which is wonderful-I have downloaded tons of music from the internet, most of which is quite good. I still have a great deal of difficulty directly connecting my laptop to the piano to screen stuff to see if it sounds great. I usually have to copy
> the music to a floppy, then try it out on the piano. If it is no good, I have to re-trace my steps and delete the file from the hard drive. For a connection of my laptop to the piano, do I have to play the music with special music software or can I output it to the piano with a
> Windows media player?
> Fraser
> 
> PianoBench@... wrote:
> 
> > Hello Everyone,
> >
> > In a message dated 12/17/00 3:35:12 PM, Fraser writes:
> >
> > << Further, any suggestions for the best collection at a web site for
> > classical vocal music accompaniment. >>
> >
> > Check out MusAcom:
> >
> > http://www.musacom.com
> >
> > This is a brand, new e-commerce site from Houston Texas. I have observed some
> > of the recordings as they were done. They have worked with the best vocal
> > accompanists, all of whom recorded on a Disklavier.
> >
> > Regards,
> > PianoBench
> >
> >
> > 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@...
> 
> 
> 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@...

-- 
Robert Welcyng
Anchorage, Alaska

Hello Everone,

In a message dated 12/27/00 5:25:58 AM, frubens@... writes:

<< I have a MarkII XG Disklavier which is wonderful-I have downloaded tons of 
music from the internet, most of which is quite good. I still have a great 
deal of difficulty directly connecting my laptop to the piano to screen stuff 
to see if it sounds great. I usually have to copy
the music to a floppy, then try it out on the piano. If it is no good, I have 
to re-trace my steps and delete the file from the hard drive. For a 
connection of my laptop to the piano, do I have to play the music with 
special music software or can I output it to the piano with a
Windows media player? >>

I don't recall if this question got answered. Yes, you can play MIDI file on 
your Disklavier using the Windows Media Player. To do this, you need to 
configure your Windows MIDI output defaults, make the correct physical 
connections to  your Disklavier, and set the To Host switch on your 
Disklavier to the correct setting. Lastly, you need to match the Disklavier's 
Piano Receive channel to that of the MIDI file.

(1) In the Windows Multimedia control panel, choose the MIDI tab. Select an 
appropriate MIDI output driver. For example, if you are using a MIDI joystick 
adapter (which is attached to the joystick port of your sound card), you 
should choose the MIDI output of your sound card driver. If you are using a 
direct serial connection between your computer and the Disklavier, you need 
to install Yamaha's CBX MIDI driver and select it in this control panel.

(2) Connect either MIDI cables or a serial cable from your computer to your 
Disklaver per the instructions in the Disklavier manuals.

(3) Set the To Host switch on your Disklavier to MIDI (if you are using MIDI 
cables) or to PC2 if you are using a serial cable.

(4) Since MIDI files can connect the piano part(s) on any of the 16 possible 
MIDI channels, you should set your Disklavier's Piano Receive channel to 
PRG(ALL). This will automatically cause the correct tracks to play on the 
piano for 98% of the files that you encounter.

Regards,
PianoBench