Player Piano MIDIification

[StentorVox]

x

[Trevor]

StentorVox,

Is your player mechanism purely pneumatic, or does it have have electromagnets?  If it is not electrified, Organ Supply sells player piano magnets.

[Trevor]

The MIDIO128 app should work just fine for your piano. Positive/negative pressure doesn't make any difference electrically.  Look into this-

[johnh]

Have any of you MIDIfied an acoustic player piano?

Here's the Cadillac of pneumatic player piano midification:

http://www.spencerserolls.com/MidiValve.htm

Here's a list of links you should review:

http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/e-valves.htm

At the top of that page is a link that shows another type of organ valves:

http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/bode.htm

Lots to study.  There's no reason why a Midibox couldn't be the smarts of

one of these...

[sparx]

Hi all

Is this a foot pump (pedal) operated player piano?

Regards

Sparx

[sparx]

Hi

Ah, there is some kind of motor required somewhere.

We'll come to that later!

Certainly for playback, you can use MIDIO128, the DOuts driving ULN type driver chips which drive some kind of magnet/solenoid.

What you need to be looking at is something like the e-valve system, you need to put a T junction into EVERY hose.  One end goes to the tracker bar, the other to your magnets, the other goes to the key. 

I have seen a drawing of this on line somewhere, but as always I can't find it right now.  Have a look here though:

http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/e-valves.htm

On this page is also a link to Willy's Frati MIDIfication which is how the MIDIO128 all started.

Now, for MIDI recording of a performance, hand or roll played, this will pose a number of other problems.  First of all, a piano is a dynamic instrument, an organ isn't.  In the early days of piano rolls, dynamics wasn't supported, in later days, it was (in various forms).  Nowadays we have MIDI with 128 levels of velocity.

The MIDIO128 is digital, that is, it only knows about on or off, a key when pressed will be on and when released will be off, no matter how softly or hard you play, the MIDIBox will only detect it as being on or off.

Secondly, with no electrical signals present inside the piano, you will probably have to interface a mechanical part that only moves when a note is pressed.  Perhaps a slotted opto-switch which is activated when a note is pressed down?

Now, the motor, have you tried plugging a vacuum cleaner into it?

Did it come with any rolls?

Regards

Sparx