CCRMA Documentation links:   index   contents   overview   rooms   account   staff   about

(contents of this file: links to each section)

CCRMA’s Disklavier MIDI Player Pianos

CCRMA has three Yamaha Disklavier MIDI player pianos:

• Stage: DC7Pro s/n 100522. Piano s/n 5900094; control unit DKC-850 s/n DCU 1911046 or 1011046 (2nd digit partly illegible)
• Recording Studio: DC7A SE s/n 5894900; control unit DKC-850 s/n DCU1206005
• Classroom; Upright MX100B (a U1 piano) s/n 5038795, manufacturerd 1991, control unit s/n C1082002, MIDI functionality not currently working.

Power on

• Plug in AC power using long extension cord
• Power on “brain” (under the keyboard to the right)

MIDI Usage

MIDI IN Port

There are two mutually exclusive ways to get MIDI into a Disklavier:

1. “MIDI”: hardware MIDI over a 5-pin DIN MIDI cable (coming out of a MIDI interface or MIDI controller) plugged into the brain

2. “USB”: MIDI-over-USB with a USB cable coming out of a computer and plugged into the USB-B port on the brain. (The brain also has some USB-A ports but these are only for USB flash drives containing MIDI files.) In this mode the disklavier brain becomes a USB MIDI interface your computer should see. (If not then try downloading the drivers from Yamaha)

You must choose one of these two modes via the brain’s user interface, using the handheld remote control. First press “setup” (recording studio) or “menu” (Stage), then scroll down to and select “MIDI”, then for the “MIDI IN Port” field select “USB” or “MIDI”.

(The Disklavier’s MIDI output, telling your computer which keys a person played, always comes out via both hardware MIDI and MIDI-over-USB; this setting is called “MIDI IN Port” because it controls how MIDI comes into the Disklavier.)

MIDI IN Delay

The other important setting for how a Disklavier handles incoming MIDI is what they call “latency”. Of course in general latency is bad and nobody wants it, but the issue is that when playing a note, it takes a certain amount of time from when the hammer starts moving until it hits the strings, and it takes longer for quieter notes to sound because the hammer moves slower. Because of this, Yamaha give you the option:

• “latency” = “off” means that every time the Disklavier receives a MIDI note, it immediately starts moving the hammer. Therefore louder notes (higher MIDI velocity) happen sooner and quiet notes (lower MIDI velocity) happen later. Use this for most interactive situations, e.g., when an algorithm is playing piano notes in real time.

• “latency” = “on” means that every note sounds exactly 500ms after receipt of the note-on. The piano waits a little bit longer before starting a loud note. Use this if you are playing back a predetermined sequence of MIDI notes with varying dynamics and you want rhythmic precision. This setting also seems to make a big improvement in the evenness of the piano’s response to MIDI velocity.

When done

• return remote to hook
• power off “brain”
• Unplug AC and lash coiled AC underneath

This page of CCRMA documentation last committed on Mon Nov 13 16:58:37 2023 -0800 by Matthew James Wright. Stanford has a page for Digital Accessibility.