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Re: [disklavier] Re: 1986 Disklavier midi play back volumne

2011-03-10 by Spencer chase

Not having a similar DKV with which to experiment, I can only guess but I think you might be able to get the best results by fiddling with different scaling "presets" with midimod2. This is because you independently adjust both the upper and lower ranges to match the dynamic response of your piano as well as compensating for other peculiarities of voicing etc. Veloset works with the whole dynamic range. If you slide the upper end down, you compress everything to some extent which might be exactly the opposite of what you want to do at the lower range. The advantage of Veloset is that it scales things smoothly so you don't have to worry about making a smooth transition between dynamic ranges. There is an advanced feature in midimod2 that allows you to copy the dynamic curve as a series of values that can be plotted in excel. When I am making presets for the LX piano from piano rolls, I use this feature extensively. I have a sample excel sheet with charts that I can share with anyone interested in using it. It is helpful to view the dynamic mapping as a graph to make sure it is smooth and to verify that it does in fact represent your intentions. The excel sheet is set up so you can just copy and paste the output from midimod2 into it and can compare the results of two different presets as graphs. The display histogram function of midimod2 is also useful for visualizing what transformations might be needed.

On 3/9/2011 4:03 PM, jboxnz wrote:

Thanks PianoBench and Spencer for the info.

I did use Veloset to compress the midi files I got from the internet. What I did so far is that if the file has maximum velocity over 100, I'll first use the left slider on Veloset to move the whole range lower (to the left until the max is at 100, or all the way to 1), and if the max is still over 100, I'll then use the right slider to compress it. This way I think will give a theoretic broader dynamic range (1-100) for the midi file, however it means the file will have notes in the 1-30 range which maybe all be played by the piano at ~30, so the bottom part of the notes get compressed more while the upper part is less compressed.

Another way as suggested by Spencer is to limit the lower limit to ~30 as well as capping the upper at 100. This may match better the piano's capability, and provide a better linearity (whole ranged compressed the same amount) but gives a lot less theoretic dynamic range(only 30-100).

Which way do you think is better?

I also found that the volume control on the control unit does lower the playing volume, but more on the upper range (Before it engages the soft pedal). So if I lower the volume, it seems to have a effect of compressing the upper range.

By the way, I don't play piano although I do enjoy music. The piano was bought for my kids to learn.

Cheers

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, George Frederick Litterst wrote:
>
> Good afternoon, everyone.
>
> This is true. The early Disklaviers compressed the dynamic range on playback, boosting the low MIDI velocities and capping the high MIDI velocities.
>
> Starting with the Mark IIXG Pro, Yamaha achieved a full spectrum of playback possibilities on the Disklavier. The original Pro and subsequent Pro models have been unsurpassed in this regard and offer more resolution in between the traditional 0-127 velocity measurements. The Mark III, current E3, and Mark IVs non-Pros also have a much wider dynamic range compared to the early model instruments.
>
> Regards,
> PianoBench
>
> www.georgelitterst.com
> www.timewarptech.com
> www.zenph.com
>
> On Mar 9, 2011, at 1:24 PM, Spencer chase wrote:
>
> > the older dkvs do not play soft notes very well. also they only play the range of something like 30 to 100 just as you have discovered. if you have files that use the whole dynamic range from 1 to 127, you can remap them to the DKV range with either Veloset or with my midimod2 program. You will never be able to change the capabilities of the piano by modifying the software but you can achieve a better match between the source and what the piano wants.
> > midimod2 is on the following page: http://www.spencerserolls.com/Files4Download.html
> >
> > On 3/8/2011 10:42 PM, jboxnz wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Did some further test with test midi samples of different velocity ranging from 5 to 100. The piano did play the samples with different volume. However the loudness of samples with note velocity 5, 10, 20 and 30 are almost the same (all pretty loud to my ear), while those with 40, 60, 80, 90 and 100 have discernible difference, progressively louder).
> >>
> >> It seems to me that the piano cannot play very soft notes well, and notes with velocity 1-20 are all played at similar volume. It works best for 30-100...didn't try anything over 100 though.
> >>
> >> Really great to have the piano play by itself...and all the midi music from the web.
> >>
> >> Cheers
> >>
> >> --- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, "jboxnz" wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Hi,
> >> >
> >> > We recently bought a grey market U3 (originally from Japan) with a playback-only Disklavier systerm. The S/N on the piano indicates it's a 1986 model, although the test menu on the controller seems to show 1993 firmware (Maybe a retrofit system). It looks like a MX80 unit with separate control unit and has the same physical layout and test menu as the MX80 according to the service manul I found on the web.
> >> >
> >> > I hooked it via a USB-Midi cable to my computer and to play the downloaded midi files (From www.kuhmann.com). What I found is that the piano seems to play at same volume no matter what I do with the velocity of the midi files (I use Veloset). Also for soft notes it also plays quite loud. Say for a midi piece with note velocity ranged from 10-100, all notes seems were played at same volume.
> >> >
> >> > However in the test mode, it seems can play softely and forcefully.
> >> >
> >> > Is this normal for it or something wrong?
> >> >
> >> > I've made some more test midi files with different velocity and volume settings, and will do more test tonight.
> >> >
> >> > Appreciate any info.
> >> >
> >> > Cheers
> >> >
> >>
> >
> > --
> > Best regards, Spencer Chase
> > 67550-Bell Springs Rd.
> > Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
> > Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
> > Spencer@...
> > http://www.spencerserolls.com
> > (707) 984-8356
> > (425) 791-0309
> >
> >
>


-- 
Best regards, Spencer Chase
67550-Bell Springs Rd.
Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
Spencer@...
http://www.spencerserolls.com
(707) 984-8356 
(425) 791-0309

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