Yamaha Disklavier
By Bob Fitterman
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 |
(Message sent Fri 7 Mar 1997, 15:39:17 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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