I own a Disklavier MX100B (an upright) and am very pleased with it, both
as a piano and for its ability to reproduce performances. I have owned it
for about 5 years and believe it is one of the better purchases I have
made in recent years.

The system, however, is not perfect. I have had problems with the
instrument not being able to play *extremely* fast sequences of repeated
notes. Before the action is in a resting position, the solenoid fires
again and the later note does not play properly.

When I presented the problem to Yamaha, their first question was whether
this was something a human pianist was capable of playing. The answer to
that is "yes" and "sort of." It happens that I have two different
recordings of Rhapsody in Blue, both released by Yamaha. The "sort of"
refers to the Gershwin rolls that Artis Wodehouse "realized." The "yes"
is represented as a live unmodified performance by David Buechner, and I
believe that to be the case. Both recordings exhibit the problem.

The Disklavier has ten volume levels, identified as 0 to -9, with 0 being
the full intensity. The lower the volume level, the more likely it is
that the problem will occur. Even at level 0, passages in these two
recordings don't pass muster. The technician came out and made some
adjustments, which improved the situation, but it's not perfect. I intend
to try a having a newly-recommended technician take a look and see if he
can spot a problem.

I'd be especially interested in hearing from other owners of various
solenoid piano systems with regard to their experiences with such
sequences. I am suspicious that the inherent differences between an
upright and grand action may account for the problem, but it's just a
hunch.

In any case, it is a disappointment for me. However, I would not
reconsider my purchase even knowing that this problem exists. Except for
these two recordings, everything else I play is a delight to my ears.

I also find the ability to record and play back on demand is outstanding:
it was one of the reasons I chose to buy a Disklavier over a pneumatic
reproducing system.

A few years ago, I asked my uncle to record a few songs at his local
Yamaha dealer (in Denver). I then invited my cousin over to lunch (in New
York) for her birthday. At the end of the meal, we presented the birthday
cake.  She was astonished when her father's distinctive playing of "Happy
Birthday" and the other songs he recorded started coming from the next
room. My uncle is no longer alive, and the recordings he made for her are
a real pleasure for all of us to listen to. You just can't capture a live
performance with systems based on paper rolls. To me, that is one of the
best capabilities of the Disklavier.

Bob Fitterman¶
bobf@ilx.com