The Piano Thread

g3o2 · 2023-09-02T23:26:26.984Z

so on the negative side, it’s not one of the original Disklaviers

Bilansley · 2023-09-03T00:04:15.764Z

Yea, but tbh Im pretty stoked that I discovered that it has MIDI functionality! I will never ever sell this piano, so the fact that its not the OG unit that came with the piano doesnt bother me any! In fact I am still very interested in upgrading it to an even newer unit that has SD card instead of the VERY old school 3.5in floppy discs. As its stands right now I don’t have any of the discs we had back in the day, which is rather disappointing since there were some that had recordings of me playing LOL

obscurerobot · 2023-09-03T00:54:59.959Z

Bilansley:

upgrading it to an even newer unit that has SD card instead of the VERY old school 3.5in floppy discs

That looks like a slimline 3.5" drive, rather than a standard height 3.5". But you still may be able to open it up and fit a floppy-to-SD adapter.

Bilansley · 2023-09-03T14:55:12.128Z

I put a call in to this place that is a Yamaha dealer and sometime next week a guy is coming out to A) do the annual tuning and cleaning and B) have a look at the Disklavier unit and talk to me about what my options are.

I played around with the MIDI last night and I couldn’t get it to do anything, and from what I remember about this unit from the last time I powered it up it was kinda acting up and having issues. In the end I think that the option that will give me least amount of headache would be simply to modernize and get a more current Disklavier.

For me personally, the only thing that really interests me about the Disklavier is the MIDI functionality and the ability to record backing parts that can play while I do melodic stuff over it. Kinda like two people playing the same piano at once. I mostly just like the piano as a piano

g3o2 · 2023-09-03T15:15:41.468Z

Given your intended use, you should probably focus on a decent audio recording solution rather than to rely on MIDI recording. Consider using MIDI to control other devices or to use your Disklavier as a player piano.

FilipNest · 2023-09-03T16:14:30.657Z

Would have loved to have got a Disklavier instead of the silent Yamaha we got if I had the money but now actually have incentive to learn to play properly rather than sending midi to it. It has midi out which is so useful. Prepared pianist Kelly Moran who I love has a Disklavier she plays around with sometimes. Wonder if she does something epic like Nancarrow one day.

In other piano+ news, I was wondering if someone had built some sort of piano vibrato machine and then found this Fluid Piano thing mentioned on here a couple but not many times

It seems it hasn’t really taken off as it’s only a few quite old now videos. I’d love if someone took this to the next level and added control via something like the Expressive E Osmose. Surely the hard parts have been done here and you could link some motors to the tuning controls and midi input and make something totally amazing, electroacoustic and new. Any engineers out there?

Bilansley · 2023-09-03T16:46:07.346Z

Yea i mean that is what i was talking about. I only care about the disklavier so I can use the piano keybaord as a controller for other stuff. My audio recording set up can handle just about anything, so Im not worried about that at all either. Trust me, owning a very nice baby grand I am not going to use all of that just to record MIDI data lol

The only other thing I used to use it for was just recording bass lines then playing over them. The reality is that I could take or leave the Disklavier, it came with the Piano when it was bought new, its still on there, but for me its first and foremost a piano, the disklavier is just a fun little extra that I happen to have

chrisb78 · 2023-09-03T17:37:10.338Z

I have the Yamaha CP88 since 2021, and love it for its sounds and keybed. Everything feels stripped down to the essentials, with little room for expansions – which I didn’t want anyway. I really enjoy it. After 25 years of physical pianos, the CP88 made me feel more at home than any other digital piano.

In addition, I recently got an iPad and Drambo. I bought the PurePiano plug-in, as well as the Yamaha MDBT01 Bluetooth MIDI Adapter. This let’s me use the CP88 as midi controller for the iPad, without any cables.

Ever since this setup, I no longer used the CP88 sounds – instead, I use Drambo with PurePiano, and have an Elektron-Style sequencer workflow.
I never felt happier recording me playing and composing on the piano.

Boboulus · 2023-09-03T21:22:44.452Z

Nice thread

I started learning piano 4 years ago without any prior music background. Been many many hours and practice almost every day and today I would say I’m decent at some stuff but pretty dedicated and learning a lot all the time

I have a Kawai GX-2 ATX4 (silent feature) and it’s amazing. The acoustic of it is pure gold and the digital part is just amazing too. It has midi and Bluetooth midi so sometimes i play my OP-1 field with my piano just because I can

crybo · 2023-09-03T21:32:08.228Z

I don’t play, just love synths and messing about, but my 14 year old is very gifted on the piano. Attends the Junior Conservatoire and we got him a Kawai K15. Love hearing him playing it and blown away when he’s playing something like Ravel’s Jeux D’eau on it. Sometimes he’s on it for 4-5 hours and as it’s in the dining room next to the living room I’ll be sitting I watching tv with the headphones on!

uhoh7 · 2023-09-04T03:32:39.109Z

I bought an acoustic upright in the 80’s, new. A Young Chang, for like 3.5k. Many synths later it’s still in my living room and gets played more than anything else. Speakers or headphones just can’t create what comes out of an acoustic piano. You don’t search for presets. I tune it myself now. Not even the Osmose, which showed up in May, is a threat to it’s shelter.

elektraursula · 2023-09-05T19:04:57.838Z

Hey Boboulus,

similiar approach here with the piano. What are you particing?

Boboulus · 2023-09-05T19:22:02.614Z

At the moment I’m not practicing as much as I want to because I’d lots and lots of work. But playing the theme from Nausicaä but mostly doing classical. Think I about learning the girl with the flaxen hair by Debussy (don’t remember the real French name) again… yes I played it a year ago but forgot it so need to relearn it.

You can check my instagram for my piano stuff if you want to “piano.bobo”

What about you?

elektraursula · 2023-09-05T19:38:45.268Z

Thanks for the answer,

I have started to learn classical Piano three and a half year ago. I got a voucher for lessons and the teacher said I have to learn the Russian piano school first (Die Russische Klavierschule 1 von Alexander Nikolajew | im Stretta Noten Shop kaufen).This was a really aha moment for me and since then I am practicing every day. I just finished an etude by Ludvig Schytte and now I am starting a Sonatine from Beethoven.

before that I tried to learn the Piano for myself and had some lessons in jazz piano, but nothing got me like classical Piano. Before that I was playing Synths and then I’ve heard a Rhodes with some jazz chords. This was the moment I wanted to learn the keys!

Boboulus · 2023-09-06T04:43:50.472Z

Sounds absolutely amazing!

4Litre · 2023-09-06T16:48:30.939Z

Seen this?

neverenoughrhodes.blogspot.com

never enough rhodes

jazz funk soul latin brazil hip hop rhodes vinyl

elektraursula · 2023-09-06T19:13:21.583Z

Saw
you playing at Instagram. This is really amazing. So many pieces in a short time! Go on. I have learned a mazurka OP 30 No. 1, and I needed round about 8 Month to play it correct and my teacher was satisfied…

Boboulus · 2023-09-06T20:02:08.201Z

Thank you so much!

WildBadger · 2023-09-06T20:30:49.115Z

Nope, but good selections.

tinara · 2023-09-06T21:10:44.260Z

I have a… Roland FP10 Started to really want a piano two years ago but crappy musician . For now, I am exploring the fact to use it with the OT via Thru machine and Neighbor tracks. Not midi in/out though and it is a bit of a shame as I would have abused the midi tracks of the OT to play chords while improvising or playing bass at the same time. Or maybe if I find a Midi USB to MIDI module one day. Not sure it is worth the struggle but will see.