Good afternoon, everyone.
Paul, there are several settings and connections that must be made correctly:
(1) Disklavier MIDI Settings
To transmit what you are playing via the MIDI Out port, be sure that MIDI Out is set to Keyboard Out.
To receive MIDI data, Set MIDI In to the appropriate MIDI channel, which is normally channel 1. Of course, the computer must have the piano track on channel 1.
(2) Connecting the MIDI Interface to the Disklavier
In the old days, a MIDI interface was a simple box with MIDI In and MIDI Out ports. When connecting to a keyboard, you just had to follow a simple rule: Connect Out to In and In to Out.
These days, most MIDI interfaces have MIDI cables that are hardwired to the interface itself. The MIDI plugs may be labelled MIDI In and MIDI Out. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers label those MIDI plugs according to the same scheme.
If you are using such an interface, start by connecting In to In and Out to Out. If they don’t work that way, try them the other way. You will not hurt anything by connecting them the wrong way.
NOTE: Since your MIDI interface has LEDs that light up when there is MIDI activity, you should expect to see constant MIDI Out activity from the Disklavier if the cables are connected correctly because the Disklavier always sends out a constant stream of active sensing data. However, you will not see the lights if the interface is not getting power. For this reason, the interface must be connected to your computer (or to a power supply, if it has one) and the computer must be turned on.
(3) Connecting the MIDI Interface to the Computer
Some interfaces work with any Mac or PC without additional software; others require a driver to be installed. If a driver is necessary, it is always best to go to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest driver. Once you have installed the driver, it is best to restart the computer.
(4) Selecting Your MIDI Interface within Your Music App
In order to use any MIDI device with Finale PrintMusic or another MIDI application, you generally must access the application’s MIDI setup preferences and specifically select your interface for both MIDI input and MIDI output.
Some modern software programs listen and respond to all available MIDI input devices, which means that there is nothing to select for MIDI input.
What brand of interface are you using?
Regards,
PianoBench
We have a Yamaha G1F Wagon Grand. My wife is attempting to send what is played on the keyboard to Finale PrintMusic. We have a midi/USB converter, but we are not sure it is functioning correctly. We have connected the Disklavier to our digital keyboard with MIDI cables and both instruments play thru the other. This suggests to me that the midi in and out ports on both instruments are function correctly. We have connected the midi/usb converter individually to each instrument and a laptop. Neither instrument sends what is played to the computer. The converter has lights for usb, midi out, and midi in. No matter how we connect the in or out cables to the instruments, the midi out light has never come on. To me this suggest a faulty converter. If this is so, we need a new midi/usb converter. Do you have recommendations for a dependable, durable converter? If anyone is aware of step-by-step instructions to connect the Disklavier to the computer, please point us to the source. Thanks for the assistance.