Disklavier

Hi All,

I have a Mark III DC3A.  I've read the press releases and technical specs as best I can, but for the life of me I can't figure out what upgrading would provide me that I don't already have (except for the Disklavier radio part.)

The feature I'm *really* looking for is the ability to rip CDs for use with the Smart PianoSoft titles I have (so can enjoy them without having the audio CD in the CD drive.)  With only 128MB of memory, it doesn't appear this will work without external storage.

I'm not too interested in the Video sync or Disklavier Radio features.  I have the piano connected to an iMac so I have thousands of hours of MIDI files available at any time.

I stopped by the local dealer, but he said they won't have a demo unit until the end of May.

Anybody know for sure if this upgrade will allow me to rip the CDs for the 30+ Smart PianoSoft titles I own?

Thanks!!

-B

On Sat, 2010-05-01 at 15:30 +0000, rwberry99 wrote:

> The feature I'm *really* looking for is the ability to rip CDs for use
> with the Smart PianoSoft titles I have (so can enjoy them without
> having the audio CD in the CD drive.) 

Some people have reported success using MID2PianoCD to merge PianoSmart
tracks:

   http://dp70.dyndns.org/mid2pianocd/

The basic idea is to rip each audio CD track to a WAV file using a
program like Exact Audio Copy, then locate the corresponding MIDI file
from the PianoSmart floppy.  Rename both files so that they have the
same filenames and just different extensions:

   track1.wav
   track1.mid

Put the files in the same folder, import the MIDI file into MID2PianoCD,
set the source velocity profile to Disklavier (under Advanced), then
encode to a Disklavier format WAV file.  This essentially combines the
two files into a PianoSoft Plus Audio track.  Then compress that WAV
file with the Apple Lossless codec for use with iTunes, or with the FLAC
codec if on Windows.

If the sync of the resulting track isn't quite right, you might need to
adjust it by decoupling the left and right stereo channels and sliding
the channel carrying the CD audio earlier or later in time relative to
the channel carrying the Disklavier signal.

I'd like to have MID2PianoCD ensure proper sync automatically, but to do
that, I would need to fully understand all of the proprietary SYSEX
messages embedded in the accompaniment MIDI tracks.  As far as I know,
these are not documented anywhere and have not been reverse-engineered
by anyone.

Mark Fontana

Good afternoon, everyone.

The Yamaha Disklavier was used along with TimeWarp Technologies' Internet MIDI software program and Skype to demonstrate long distance teaching and performing at the recent 2010 Intel Visionary Conference. You can see video clips here:

http://www.timewarptech.com/Pages/Products/InternetMIDI/InternetMIDIVideoDemos.html

One video clip shows an excerpt of a live performance by pianist and composer Jarrod Radnich who was 3,000 miles away. In another clip, Jarrod teaches a mini lesson to a 13-year old student.

In the 3rd clip, I present the Macha Piano project of pioneer Kristin Shoemaker who is using Internet MIDI with digital pianos to teach children in Macha, Zambia from her home in Minnesota.

The final clip is a performance of God Speed from a new musical called Machaw by Jarrod Radnich. In this clip, Jarrold plays his Disklavier and is accompanied by 15 additional MIDI tracks. All 16 channels of data are transmitted over the Internet to accompany Broadway star Patti Cohenour of Phantom of the Opera fame.

Regards,
PianoBench

www.georgelitterst.com
www.timewarptech.com