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MMD > Archives > March 2010 > 2010.03.08 > 06Prev  Next


Playing General MIDI Files on Yamaha Disklavier
By Ken Vinen

Hello list -- I am not computer savvy in any way and I also faced the
same problem with an early model Yamaha that played the 3.5-inch floppy
diskette.  The first problem was that the music selection offered by
Yamaha was not to my taste.  The next music stage was Ampico rolls
transcribed to floppy disks by Wayne Stahnke, which were excellent.

Now the 3.5-inch diskette is considered obsolete and new or blank stock
is hard to find.  This was a very upsetting situation to be in with
such an expensive piano that was at the time just about five years old.

I was most fortunate that a close friend who knows computers well
pointed out to me that MIDI is MIDI and the software was of no concern.
He located an inexpensive, used laptop computer for me which is now
connected to the MIDI ports of the piano and stays with the piano at
all times.  I can now download any roll scan file from most any source
and store it in the dedicated laptop computer.

The number of titles is unlimited and some of the great work done by
Terry Smythe includes nickelodeon rolls, reproducing rolls and standard
88-note rolls.  There is even some band organ scans.

I can't help but smile when I realize that paper rolls are still easy
to get for all my vintage player pianos but the software for the
Yamaha, which is perhaps now ten years old, presents a real problem.
Hope this information is helpful.

As ever --
Ken Vinen
Aylmer, Ontario, Canada


(Message sent Tue 9 Mar 2010, 03:42:27 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

Key Words in Subject:  Disklavier, Files, General, MIDI, Playing, Yamaha

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