Disklavier

Greetings Everyone,

I have an MX85 Disklavier with a DKC5R control unit that I want to play from a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ via MIDI.  The MIDI input has a 500 ms delay which makes playing in "real time" from the pipe organ impossible.  Is it possible to disable the 500 ms delay on the DKC5R?  If not, is there another control unit (e.g., DSR1) that would be compatible with the MX85 and would not have the delay?

Thank you very much for your help.

Good morning, everyone.

Normally I expect to go to:

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/index.php

and find the manual for your Disklavier. Regrettably, I don't find the manual and therefore cannot give you specific instructions for turning off the delay.

However, I will point out that if you succeed in turning off the delay, you may not get the result that you are looking for. When the delay on the Disklavier is turned off, the instrument responds to note-on and note-off events immediately by starting to move the keys in the correct direction (up or down). In the case of the note-on message, you will hear the note somewhat late because it takes time for key to move and to propel the hammer to the string.

The interesting point here is that the amount of delay between the reception of the note-on message and the moment that you hear the note is based on the velocity of the note when the Disklavier is set to real-time MIDI input. In other words, you'll hear the loud notes sooner than the soft notes.

Since you are controlling the piano from an organ, I am guessing that all of the velocities will be the same, in which case you won't experience the variable delay. Nonetheless, you will have a delay. The delay will most likely be under 200 ms and possibly under 100 ms if the velocities are high enough.

It is also important to note that in the cases of rapid notes, trills, and tremolos, there may be a tendency for the note-off messages to interrupt the keystroke of the note-on messages. As a result, some notes will not speak with the intended velocity or may not be heard at all.

Regards,
PianoBench

www.georgelitterst.com
www.timewarptech.com

On Jan 11, 2011, at 6:39 AM, lryfnr wrote:

> Greetings Everyone,
> 
> I have an MX85 Disklavier with a DKC5R control unit that I want to play from a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ via MIDI. The MIDI input has a 500 ms delay which makes playing in "real time" from the pipe organ impossible. Is it possible to disable the 500 ms delay on the DKC5R? If not, is there another control unit (e.g., DSR1) that would be compatible with the MX85 and would not have the delay?
> 
> Thank you very much for your help.