One of my favorite simple upgrades for early Disklaviers is connecting them to PianoStream! PianoStream is a piano radio app designed to work with nearly every player piano, including the Yamaha Disklavier.
The app offers its own version of piano radio, providing you with a very large repertoire of high-quality music. It also allows you to stream MIDI files from your phone to your Disklavier, altogether bypassing the floppy drive.
Many customers choose to upgrade their old floppy disk drives with a Nalbantov floppy disk emulator. These devices altogether replace the original floppy disk drives. You can then store your entire inventory of floppy disks on a single USB stick!
At this time, if you want to record with your Disklavier, the Nalbantov is a necessary upgrade. The PianoStream App does not currently support recording.
Replacement Power Supplies
Power supplies on this generation of Disklavier almost invariably fail. Fortunately, TAP Electronics rebuilds Disklavier power supplies. Simply ship them your power supply, and they’ll rebuild it and ship it back. They remain the only provider endorsed by Yamaha for this service. Last I checked, this was a flat rate of $750. The rebuilt power supplies do not have the defect the original did, and will last much longer.
Replacement LCD Screens
Is your LCD screen blank? It’s quite likely that the screen has died. You can attempt to repair it yourself by replacing the capacitors on the old screen; however, replacement screens are still available! They are Yamaha #VN635201. They can be purchased on Yamaha 24×7, and are available for less from SynthParts. The new LCD screens do not use the electrolytic capacitors prone to failure, and will last much longer.
DKC-850 Upgrade
The Yamaha DKC-850 can be installed as a “piggybacked” device on the earlier Disklaviers. This means that the DKC-850 is installed in addition to the original Disklavier, and connected through its MIDI jacks. This adds most features of modern Disklaviers, including Yamaha Piano Radio and conventional USB ports.
The most common question I get about Mark IV Disklaviers is how to connect them to the internet. Oftentimes, the owner is struggling to connect, even though they know their device is plugged directly in to a live internet connection. In that case, you need to update your Mark IV firmware. Out-of-date firmware will not talk properly to Yamaha servers! If you have any trouble updating on your own, you can order my firmware update kit.
DKC-900 Upgrade
The Mark IV can be upgraded with the Yamaha DKC-900. This enables you to use your phone or tablet to control the piano, and is aesthetically much subtler than the Mark IV.
Nalbantov Floppy Disk Emulator
Has your floppy disk drive stopped working? If you want to gain back that functionality, you can install a Nalbantov. On the Mark IV, this is much less useful than on previous Disklaviers, as most of your disks are already saved on the hard disk.
PianoStream
The PianoStream App does also work on the Mark IV. This is an alternative to Yamaha piano radio, and is less expensive. It also allows you to broadcast MIDI files to the piano from your phone or another device. Of course, with the Mark IV, you can already use USB sticks, so this isn’t as large an upgrade as it is on previous Disklaviers.
Solid State Hard Drives
Sometimes hard drives fail on the Mark IV. The Mark IV uses old spinning disk hard disks. If you notice them chattering or exceptionally slow performance, consider upgrading your Mark IV to use an SSD.
The Enspire and the DKC-900 represent major upgrades over previous generations of Disklavier; however, they are still surprisingly challenging to connect to the internet. See my article on a straightforward and effective way to connect your Disklavier to the internet.
I have a customer who recently upgraded his Mark IV to a DKC-900, and wanted to add larger Bluetooth enabled speakers. We used Rockville TM150B 10″ Speakers. Although the speakers are powered, and amplify signal quite well, we nonetheless found the audio output from the Disklavier was a bit low. I added an RCA preamp to amplify the signal going into the speakers. The RCA preamp is zip tied in place using 24″ zip ties. These work wonderfully for strapping components to the beams.
The speakers underneath the piano are present, but are no longer powered or connected.
An RCA preamp installed between the control center RCA output and the speaker. The piano alongside its powered Rockville speakers, overlooking the ocean.This piano connects to his network using a Powerline adapter, as discussed in my Connecting Yamaha Disklaviers to a Network article.
The most important part of this step is that you write the files as “Renamed MIDI files.” I typically name each one with the name of the track, and make sure each name starts with the track number (00, 01, 02…). This makes it much easier to keep track of which MIDI file goes with which MP3 later on.
Using PPFBU to extract the files, and then export them as Renamed MIDI files. I’m using a dedicated Windows XP box that I keep just for this purpose. You can rename the files in PPFBU before you export them, or you can rename the MIDI files after (like I did in this case).
Ripping an Audio CD using Asunder on a Linux system.
Name and Organize the Files
Below, you can see the files listed after ripping the audio CD, and after backing up the floppy disk drive using Player Piano Floppy Backup Utility. The floppy disk tracks are MIDI files and have a .mid extension. These contain the instructions to operate the piano. The CD tracks have been ripped as MP3 files and therefore have a .mp3 extension—these contain the audio.
All the files are present, but they will not yet play correctly in the Disklavier, as the filenames do not match.
I wrote a short Python script to automatically rewrite all the filenames to match. Using the numbers at the beginning of each filename, it pairs together matching MIDI and MP3 files and names them whatever the name of the MIDI file is, but without spaces or symbols. This appears to be the same formatting of downloadable Disklavier albums.
Whether you use the script or not, the before and after directory listings indicate how you must rename the files.The script is called using the following syntax:
Note that now the MP3 and MIDI files have identical names for each song, identical capitalization, and that all spaces and symbols have been removed. In the ENSPIRE, unlike earlier iterations of the Disklavier, filename length does not seem to matter. Here’s a graphical representation of the last folder, ready to move:
The filenames match! It’s ready to be put on a USB stick and played in your ENSPIRE.
It’s Time to Play!
At this point, you can move the complete folder (in this case, Kingston Trio) onto a USB stick, and insert it into the front of your ENSPIRE controller.
Once your USB is inserted, you’ll see the My Songs (5) option appear in the ENSPIRE controller app. (This image is copied from the ENSPIRE Controller Operation Manual created by Yamaha, which is available from them.) Just open up the “Album” (which is the folder you created for all of your files on your USB stick), and select a song! It’ll play the piano parts, and the audio will accompany it.
You can see based on the pictures below that the Nalbantov slim is slightly too small to fill the entire cavity left by the original floppy disk drive. Additionally, there are no mounts of any kind to hold the Nalbantov in place. This insert solves both problems: The drive screws into the insert at just the right distance and depth, and the insert also buffers the area around the outside of the drive.
The insert installed over the screw positions of the original floppy disk drive.I 3D printed the spacers at 50% infill so they’d be fairly solid. These spacers allow you to use the original machine screws that hold down the OEM floppy disk drive, which is a huge advantage. No visits to the hardware store!
I have a customer who recently experienced an issue with his Yamaha Disklavier HQ100. The HQ100 is the Japanese version of the MX100II. He primarily uses this instrument over MIDI, and finds the Disklavier quite useful.
This discussion should apply to other models of Yamaha Disklavier. Although the solenoids and part numbers differ between models, the general concept remains similar.
The symptom was that, when started, the MX100II would play a single key at maximum velocity. It would sustain it for several seconds before releasing. Additionally, the system emitted a noisy whine while powered on. This noise turned out to be a failed power supply, and a replacement resolved that particular symptom. However, despite this, the system would still play one single key after powering on and then fail to respond to any subsequent commands.
The key that was playing was a low D (specifically, D1). I disassembled the instrument and inspected the solenoid for that key. The solenoid assembly was exuding an enormous amount of heat. The burned coil can be seen below.
There was also considerable damage to the inside of the coil assembly. The solenoid was unable to move fully back down into the rest position, as the assembly was badly melted.
A burned out solenoid alongside a healthy one.
Diagnosis
I replaced the solenoid; however, this did not solve the problem. The new solenoid would activate and rapidly heat up. At one point, F1 activated instead of D1, adding an interesting twist.
I disconnected CN201, meaning that the Drive C solenoid drive board was still receiving power from the Disklavier but wasn’t receiving a signal. This isolated the problem to the Drive C board. Replacing the solenoids made it clear that they weren’t the issue. Therefore, the problem had to be somewhere on the PCB below:
I traced the circuitry back from the solenoid. In the image above, the D1 key solenoid is plugged into CN207. I verified that diodes D213-D224 were all behaving correctly (between 400-600 mV forward, and 0 back). Eventually, I was able to trace the behavior to the transistor array. My current theory is that the transistor array failed, causing current to run to the solenoid continuously. The solenoid eventually melted the plastic sleeve. This would also explain why the F1 solenoid activated in place of the D1 during later tests—both key solenoids are attached to the same failing transistor array.
This is the failed component. In the MX100II, this transistor array (2NTH3L20 / Yamaha #VB293700) has been discontinued. However, the equivalent array is NX551020 available through Digikey.
During the winter months, many clients leave the state of Maine. Their piano is left in Maine, which means there’s nobody to fill the Dampp-Chaser! This is a solution.
My best estimate is that this system can supply a Dampp-Chaser with sufficient water for three months during the winter, or perhaps longer. Normally, they have to be filled once a week!
There is no pump or water pressure: The two containers are self-leveling using nothing but physics. This means that, in effect, the interior tank has nearly the entire capacity of the external tank. The lack of electronic components remediates risk of severe failures. The external tank I use is the Barker 10-gallon tote.
Although not necessary for operation, an Arduino micro-controller is installed to monitor the water level and send updates using cellular data. This gives us confidence everything is working as it should, even during long absences. This is in development, although the source code I’m currently using is below. At present, I’m using the Botletics SIM7000 shield and an Arduino Uno Rev3. I connect using Telnyx.
The setup outside of a piano, with the Barker tote and the Dampp-Chaser universal tank connected by a hose. The universal tank will sit inside the piano, and the Barker tote will be outside.This is the monitoring website for the above unit.
I want to get my piano tuned, but is it worth tuning?
If you want to schedule a time for me to come evaluate a piano, I’ll apply the cost of that evaluation towards the tuning if you decide to get it tuned at a later date.
It’s free on Craigslist! Do I need to get it evaluated?
Yes! Pianos are incredibly hard to move, and when considering cost, potential for personal or property damage, and the subsequent disappointment of discovering you now need to move it the dump, the cost of an evaluation could represent saving hours of your time and hundreds of dollars.
My piano has a crack! Is it serious?
Soundboards are constructed out of solid spruce, and generally crack along their laminates over the course of decades. These cracks are usually not a big deal. Soundboard cracks become a big deal when they allow the soundboard to significantly change shape—to lose its crown—or if they form in such a way as to rattle or cause the ribs to separate. If you notice that one side of the crack is higher than the other, or that the crack is large enough to allow daylight through, you might have a serious crack. The worst cracks are often tangent to the bridges. If the piano sounds okay, it’s sometimes possible to continue tuning the piano with even a rather serious crack if you don’t have any other option, or if the piano is an heirloom with sentimental value, and you work to keep the humidity stable. Otherwise, it’s time to contact a rebuilder.
I’ve prepared a list of the most common questions I get about piano tuning!
Why do pianos go out of tune?
Pianos go out of tune as humidity changes. Here in Maine (and New England in general), indoor humidity is highly unpredictable: Constant small fluctuations in humidity mean your piano can go out of tune even more quickly than in other parts of the country.
These fluctuations can happen much faster if the piano is near a window, an air conditioner, a heat source, a humidifier, or dehumidifier, an outside wall, or is in a drafty space. A piano placed in front of a baseboard heater can go out of tune in the matter of weeks, rather than months.
Major seasonal changes are not the primary reason a piano in our locale goes out of tune. Daily changes in humidity are the main factor. Fortunately, by controlling humidity, tuning stability can be improved.
Humidity is always changing. Your piano will go flatter as the air dries, and sharper as it gets more humid. And every time your piano’s tuning changes, some parts change at different rates than others. Eventually, the piano is out of tune with itself—that’s when it needs a tuning!
How often should I get my piano tuned?
I recommend tuning your piano a minimum of once every six months. If the piano is used for performances, is in a high-traffic and high-use environment like a church or a restaurant, or is very new, I recommend once every three months.
If nobody plays your piano, and you’re simply storing it, an annual tuning can be adequate. Make sure the piano is in a stable space and isn’t experiencing excessive humidity swings. A humidity monitor or hygrometer is helpful.
Why does my piano go out of tune so quickly?
The primary reason for a piano to go out of tune quickly is the environment. See “Where should the piano be positioned?” If in doubt, install a humidity monitor.
Sometimes, loose pins can cause a piano to quickly sound dreadful, like two keys are being played at once. This usually happens in dry weather. However, some pianos with soundboard or bridge cracks can go out of tune very quickly. These will require more serious repair than can generally be performed in a home, and I can direct you to an experienced rebuilder.
If your piano is already in an ideal space and is still going out of tune quickly, or if you’re unable to move your piano to a better space, consider a Dampp-Chaser Piano Life Saver System™. These control the humidity inside the piano itself, and can considerably improve tuning stability in challenging environments. They also protect the piano from dangerous humidity extremes.
Remember that chart up above? That’s just what’s happening in the room. Here’s what’s happening inside a piano protected by a Dampp-Chaser system. Yes, the humidity still changes, but much less than the room!
How long does a piano tuning take?
A newer piano that has been tuned within six months will typically take between 50 and 75 minutes. Some pianos can take up to two hours if they’re very far out of tune.
Should I wait to tune the piano after I move it?
If you’re just moving a piano a short distance within your house, the majority of pianos will not require any time to settle. The physical action of moving doesn’t generally alter tuning. However, changing the environment of a piano—moving it between houses or even towns—will almost certainly cause settling and adjustment. In these circumstances, I recommend waiting a minimum of two weeks before tuning. See my Piano Moving FAQs.
Will it cost more if it’s been a long time?
It depends. When a piano is dramatically out of tune, I’ll need to perform a “pitch adjustment.” A pitch adjustment is a very quick tuning designed to get the piano close to concert pitch before the actual tuning. This pre-tuning is necessary, as otherwise the piano will go out of tune as I tune it.
Pitch adjustments considerably change the tension within the piano. A piano that’s a half-step below concert pitch will undergo a change of almost one ton of tension during a tuning. This means the tuning does not last as long. The instrument will settle over several weeks. This also means the process of tuning it will take longer. You will want to consider getting it tuned a second time after about a month.
I do not charge extra if I can still tune it in my expected time frame of two hours, and I almost always can. However, the tuning itself will not last as long, and a follow-up will likely be necessary.
Do you tune by ear?
I tune using a Sanderson AccuTuner. After tuning, I will aurally evaluate the piano and will retune individual keys or perhaps a small section by ear if I think, for some reason, the machine’s “perfect” doesn’t match a human ear’s “perfect.” I do not, at this time, know of anyone in Maine who tunes primarily by ear, and if you know of one please contact me!
What’s the difference between a fish and a piano?
You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish.
Do you service players?
Players fall in two categories: Older player uprights, generally from the 1920s, and newer electronic players from the 80s onward. I can tune both, but the older 1920s players can present some unique challenges when regulating or repairing them. The player stack is heavy, and typically difficult to remove, and it sits between me and the action. You should expect this to take some extra time.
While I can help you set up your Yamaha Disklavier or other electronic system, I do NOT do repairs or rebuilding on the actual player mechanism, old or new. I do not currently have anyone to recommend for this work, and if you are such a person, please contact me.
My piano has a weird buzz. Can you fix that?
There are many possible reasons for a buzz. These range from debris on the soundboard, to poor string seating, to structural faults, to peeling glue on the edge of the soundboard. I will do my best to find the source of the problem in your piano and come up with a reasonable treatment.
Where do I find a teacher?
Funny you should ask: I have a handy list on my teachers page!
Are my ivories worth anything?
It is a federal crime to buy or sell ivory, and so the market value is zero. They are worthwhile to keep (or give to your technician) since they can be used to replace broken or missing ivories on other pianos.
Can you fix my broken music rack?
I do carry replacement hardware for music racks. If the music rack itself is broken, then the options depend on the piano. Upright pianos often have generic, easily replaceable music racks. If your music rack is hinged, I can almost certainly order a replacement readily. Grand piano repairs can be more complicated, but I do them. I might opt to work with a carpenter depending on the nature of the repair and the intricacy of the detail of your particular music rack.
My piano is too loud! What can I do?
If it’s a grand, you can leave the lid down. Another easy fix is putting a rug underneath the piano, which does a lot—especially for grands. If you have an upright, you can also cut a rectangular piece of foam insulation to set behind the piano. In this application, exposed foam does best.
It’s possible that your piano is too bright, and needs to be voiced down. Depending on the piano, this can be done by sanding the surface of the hammers, needling the hammers, or applying chemical hammer softener.
Where should the piano be positioned?
It should be positioned along on an inside wall away from doors and windows. Outside walls change temperature (and thus relative humidity) more quickly than inside walls.
Make sure it is in a large enough room. Small rooms change temperature and humidity quicker than large rooms because of the volume of air. The exception would be a small space with very well-controlled humidity.
Control the humidity in the room. Dehumidifiers or air conditions prevent the air from getting too humid in the summer, and humidifiers keep the piano from drying out in the winter. If you cannot control the humidity in the room, then I can install a Dampp-Chaser Piano Life Saver System™.
Our piano is in a building that isn’t heated in the winter. Do we need to do anything?
This is a pretty common situation here in Maine in churches and grange halls. Curiously, pianos exposed to colder temperatures tend to hold a better tune overall. This is because it’s the heating of the air that causes dryness in the winter, and cooler spaces maintain better humidity levels.
However, there is a tremendous risk of condensation forming on the strings and pins inside the piano and its action, which will initially cause rust and sluggishness and can eventually cause mold. Both rust and mold can become terminal conditions in a piano quickly, especially one that’s left unplayed and unattended to for months at a time. In these cases, my strategy is the installation of a Dampp-Chaser Piano Life Saver System™, or even just the Dampp-Chaser dehumidifier which is considerably less expensive than the complete system. See more about Dampp-Chasers.
The movers broke my pedals! Can you fix them?
It’s quite common for home movers unfamiliar with pianos to struggle when putting together the pedal assembly. This is one good reason to hire professional piano movers. Usually in these cases nothing is actually broken, and I can put the pedals back together in the same visit. However, in the case of major breaks, I can supply replacements (often on a return visit) or can duplicate components (often with the help of a carpenter).
Something fell into my piano! Can you get it?
Yes. If a pen or pencil rolled in behind the fallboard or music rack, it is unlikely to do any damage other than making noise when you play a key—many times, my clients have no idea anything even fell in! However, if you notice a key no longer plays or feels stuck, or if the object fell into the action of your grand piano, give me a call, and I’ll be by to remove it as soon as possible!
If it’s especially unreachable, I can hunt in hard to reach places using an endoscope.
My last tuner said the pins were too loose. Is this a problem?
A lot of tuners are not technicians—that is, they tune pianos but do not perform repairs. Tuning pins can often be sized up, or even just set deeper into the pinblock. However, if MANY tuning pins are loose or the pinblock itself is damaged, then the piano might be in need of a rebuild. This is extensive work done in a shop.
Alternative Chemical Solutions
However, not everybody is looking to rebuild their piano. You might be looking for a solution that will work for the next few years, and is a lot cheaper. If the piano has dreadfully loose tuning pins, and another technician has already given up on it, there does exist one remaining (and interesting) solution: There’s an extremely viscous cyanoacrylate (sold by the brand name Hot Stuff Original Instant Glue) can be dripped around the tuning pins. It will wick into the pinblock and crystallize, swelling the wood. It takes approximately one bottle to treat a single piano. Furthermore, it does not bond the tuning pins to the pinblock, but rather swells the pinblock and consequently increases its grip on the pins.
This chemical wizardly can rescue pianos that otherwise seem quite far gone, although it’s not guaranteed if the pinblock is badly cracked or damaged. Nonetheless, I’ve had multiple situations where it seemed very nearly miraculous, and the customer was spared the cost of rebuilding the pianos for years.
How Chemical Solutions are Applied
If the piano is an upright, it’s necessary to lay the piano on its back before treating. (This typically requires a piano dolly unless you’re singularly gargantuan, and I’ve heard stories of such technicians.) Vacuum the area around the tuning pins so you don’t glue too much dog hair and other debris permanently in place. Leave the piano in this position until Hot Stuff has had adequate time to cure—you don’t want it to drip on the strings when you stand the piano back up. After an hour or so, the tuning pins should be set much more firmly, and tuning stability will likely be much improved.
In short, a piano with some loose pins is generally worth a second look by a technician, and about two thirds of the time I find I can correct the problem in-home.
Do you tune Mason & Hamlin Screw Stringers? Wegman’s? Square Grands? Birdcage Uprights? This unique thing I found in my basement I can’t find anywhere on the internet?
If your peculiar piano is in good condition, I’ll do my very best to tune it. And if I can’t, I’ll at least photograph it and look at it in wonder.
I can tune Mason & Hamlin screw stringers and birdcage uprights, if they’re otherwise in good condition. I’m always willing to take a look at something truly novel.
Most of the time, square grand pianos are not able to be tuned to anything resembling a modern tuning, and much of the time not even to themselves. This is because they are, by definition, very old, with most of them being from the 1850s and 1860s. They also simply weren’t built as ruggedly as pianos of even a few decades later, and mechanical issues typically abound. You’re better off completely rebuilding it if you’re passionate about the design.
Wegman uprights are real oddities, with their peculiar tuning pins. I can’t even find a picture of one on the internet to share here, so I’ll definitely come look at yours. When I first encountered one, I couldn’t find anyone else who had even seen such a thing. For the uninitiated, this is a design of piano that doesn’t use a pinblock: Metal tuning pins are placed through the cast iron plate, and then have a notch with a wedge driven in from the other side to hold them in place. They typically can be tuned, although replacing tuning pins is, essentially, machine work.
There are two well-established piano moving companies here in Southern Maine: The Piano Movers of Maine (207-939-3018) and Starbird Piano (207-775-2733), both of which are based in Portland. Both, in my experience, are willing to travel pretty far.
Pricing for piano moving is quite variable, and you should have the following information ready: The location the piano is moving from and to; The number of steps at both locations; The size of the piano (length for a grand or height for an upright).
If you need an especially long-distance move between states, reach out to Piano Movers Inc. They service all of New England.
Do I really need a professional mover?
Pianos weigh many hundreds of pounds (about 400 for the smallest spinets and 1200 for the largest grands). They can also move unpredictably because of their often dramatically uneven weight distribution. Although moving a piano poorly could damage it, the real risk is to the people and the environment. On a flight of stairs, a piano can quickly transform into an unstoppable battering ram, leaving a path of devastation behind it.
The typical rule of thumb is to call a professional if either you’re moving a grand piano, or if you’re moving an upright and more than three stairs are involved at either location.
Can I just use a regular moving company?
Typical household movers don’t have adequate experience taking pianos apart and putting them back together. They might be able to move an upright, but grands are another matter altogether. I regularly have to reinstall pedal lyres that were improperly installed by movers. I’ve also cleaned up after several piano drops (one of which trapped a person). These are nightmare experiences for everybody involved. These are typically caused by the piano moving in a way the mover didn’t expect, given their uneven weight distribution. If at all possible, choose somebody with substantial experience moving pianos!
I once was called in to help “experienced piano movers” remove the legs from a Steinway. They couldn’t figure out how they came off! I won’t name the company, but it was a large, local moving firm, and they’d begun attempting to remove the bolts holding the key bed to the rest of the cabinet when I arrived. If they’d succeeded, it would have been quite the insurance claim!
