Yamaha Disklavier PianoSoft Chat

Today I verified three new Holiday masters.  For those of you who enjoy the printed versions of PianoSoft (rather than digital delivery) the good news is, these three collections will be available from your PianoSoft/Disklavier dealer or from www.yamahamusicsoft.com as well as through download. The new disks are:

00501282:  A Cunliffe Christmas: This is a superb collection performed by jazz pianist Bill Cunliffe.  There will be a profile about Bill in a later post but you can learn more about this great musician at:

http://www.billcunliffe.com/news/

Some of the songs in the collection are:

The Christmas Song
Silver Bells
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Winter Wonderland

and much more…

00501284:  Eight Days and Nights: by the fine pop pianist, Adam Chester.  Read all about him at:

http://www.adamchester.com/

Featured songs are:

and more…

00506424:  Happy Christmas:  arranged and performed by Jason Nyberg.  This is a PianoSoft Plus Collection with marvelous orchestrated selections.  Visit

http://www.nybergmusic.com/ 

to learn more about Jason.  He too will be profiled soon on this blog.

Songs featured are:

I may seem biased but these are three GREAT collections just in time for the holiday season. 

Have a good week!

Cathy

First Lady of the Disklavier Sings
and
Sue Downs - I Love Being Here with You

She is a popular Disklavier recording artist and has performed on several other collections including:

There Will Never Be Another Sue!
Triocity
Hymns and Her
Sue’s Noodles (all original compositions)
It Will Be A Blue Christmas Without Sue

and much more. 

Sue is married to Jerry Downs, another talented musician and fantastic editor/engineer.  It’s a perfect musical marriage and I have a feeling it’s perfect in many other ways!

Don’t miss the chance to hear this superb pianist!

Hi! TGIF!  Today I was making a replacement master for a customer and got to thinking that many people probably do not know that Yamaha provides this service free of charge.  The first Disklavier pianos and a couple of generations later all played double density disks.  The later models could play high density disks and at the same time, double density disks were more difficult to acquire.  Also, high density disks hold far more data so we were not as limited, especially where XG products were concerned as they have more information requiring more space.  New PianoSoft Solo and PianoSoft Plus that is manufactured as a tangible product (not digital download only) is mastered on a high density disk.  Customers with previous generation Disklavier pianos cannot play high density disks.  If a customer buys a high density disk that is not playable, it can be sent to me and I will replace it with a double density disk version.  This is the current procedure and I will update you if there is any change.  You may send your HD disks for conversion to:

GenniMac, Inc.
2505 Anthem Village Drive
Suite E # 154
Henderson, NV  89052

Have a great weekend!

Today I was helping Jim make new masters for two new PianoSoft projects:  “In A Movie Mood” and “Sixteen Candles.”  These are two super collections that will be available for download from www.yamahamusicsoft.com very soon.  There were so many steps to the process it got me to thinking about what goes into making a new PianoSoft project.  Personally, my job primarily involves project concept, assembling the content for a collection, entering the songs and composers into the database and licensing the music.  ‘Project concept’ is sometimes accomplished by committee but everyone has very specific tasks in the process.  Assignments are made by consensus as well.  Some artists work alone and others work with engineer/editors.  Once the recording is finished and basically edited, the music is uploaded to a server and it is retrieved by an editor who does a final edit.  When that editor is finished, it is uploaded again to a server and a ‘final QC” (quality control) editor downloads the music and gives it a final check.  The data has to pass many technical requirements besides the more subjective and objective musical issues that are reviewed.  When the QC editor is finished, he/she uploads the music again to the server and Jim Leahy retrieves it and makes a master.  This is the actual product that we can sell.  In that ‘master folder’ resides audio style (mp3) files for online preview capability.  This is really just scratching the surface because there are so many little hidden tasks involved.  Over time I would like to profile the various specialists, artists and technicians who help create and manage Yamaha PianoSoft.

Most new PianoSoft is only available as a digital download.  There is still a very large library of printed goods you may purchase from your dealer or directly from Hal Leonard.  Digital downloads are availabale at www.yamahamusicsoft.com. 

Talk to you soon!!

Hi All!  Today, September 9, 2008, Jim Leahy and I are in Henderson NV working on several projects.  “Fantastic Film Ballads” is in the final editing stage and includes songs like “Evergreen,” Theme from “Love Story,” “My Heart Will Go On,” (love theme from “Titanic”), “Somewhere” (West Side Story), “Somewhere in Time,” “The Rose,” “The Way We Were,” “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” and more.  The pianist is Bryan Pezzone and this is a really pretty collection.  This week we will also (we hope) finish editing the second Newport Music Festival disk.  “Fantastic Film Ballads” falls into our new category named BGM.  We are producing three to four BGM collections every quarter.  BGM’s longer name is “Background Music.”  These are great disks for relaxed listening, parties, dinners, etc.

Today is September 4th.  Tomorrow I will be going to Orange County to the recording studio in Buena Park where Jim Leahy (chief PianoSoft editor/engineer) and I will start editing the second Newport album from this summer’s concerts.  Jim went to Newport, RI in July to record some of the live concerts on the Disklavier.  From those live recordings, we are assembling PianoSoft collections.  One was finished a couple of weeks ago and it features three Mozart Sonatas played by the spectacular Michael Endres.  Next week we will complete a collection with a little Mozart, Schumann and Mendelsohnn.  You can learn more about the Newport Music Festival at www.newportmusic.org.  You may also read about Michael Endres at: http://www.michaelendres.com/.  Cheers!

Today Bryan Pezzone, pianist extraordinaire, is in the studio recording a PianoSoft Solo collection called “Fantastic Film Ballads.”  Bryan is the perfect pianist for this project (actually, he can play anything - really!) because he is the go-to guy for many of the biggest Hollywood films.  He records film music regulary for John Williams and other greats.  Bryan has recorded a great deal of PianoSoft and his versatility is one of his greatest musical qualities.  Not many great Classical Pianists are great pop/jazz pianists as well and improvise on the level that he does. And…if that’s not enough…he is an accomplished composer.  You can learn more about him at: http://www.brumfieldassociates.com/a_bryanpezzone.htm 

Did you know that CRD develops 15 new PianoSoft products every quarter?

Hi.  My name is Cathy and I work in the Content Research and Development Department at Yamaha Corporation of America.  Our department creates musical content for Yamaha digitally reproducing instruments.  My work is primarily in the area of the Disklavier Piano and PianoSoft development.  I will be discussing new projects, artists, the current library and more.  I look forward to your comments.