The Yamaha "Little Red School House" Recently I was privileged to spend a week at the Yamaha headquarters for continuing education in piano technology. Yamaha Piano Company has a training program for piano technicians called the Yamaha "Little Red School House". It is a week-long intensive hands-on training session, covering high-level regulation and voicing. Yamaha has their headquarters in Buena Park, California, which is right next to Anaheim (Disney Land). Yamaha paid for the hotel (Holiday Inn), paid for my breakfast and lunch, and the training was at no charge to me! Meals The meals were great! A delicious breakfast was served in the "Executive Lounge" at the hotel each morning. There were snacks throughout the day and the instructors took us out for lunch each day at a different restaurant. We went to a buffet the first day, followed by a trip to a Sports Bar and Grill, and then a Japanese noodle shop. On Thursday we went to a chinese restaurant was called the Panda Inn, and our group of 11 sat around a large round table. There was a big lazy susan in the middle of the table, and after we each ordered our meal, we put our plates on the lazy susan. We each had a chance to try every one of the dinners, and the food was very tasty (especially the honey-glazed walnut shrimp!). For desert there were fortune cookies that were dipped in white chocolate! The Mexican restaurant for Friday's dining experience was called El Torito's, and the food there was delicious also. The waitress made fresh guacamole at tableside while we watched! For desert some people had fried ice cream! The last night (Friday) they took us to a Japanese restaurant for a banquet. We all sat on the floor around a very low table and ate with chopsticks. There must have been about 7 courses to the meal, including an appetiser of seasoned steamed soy beans. I had never thought I could stand to eat raw fish before, but after I tried one piece of sushi, it turned out to be pretty good! After the sushi was soup before the dinner. The drinks included hot green tea, and Japanese beer and Korean distilled spirits (for those who wished to imbibe.) The main course was thinly sliced beef and fresh seafood, cooked right at the table in boiling water with mushrooms and noodles and lots of other fresh vegetables. Then there was more soup, cooked at the table-side. For desert was green tea ice cream with a unique flavor. Following the banquet was a presentation of the certificates. I can say that a good time was had by all! Training and Instructors The classes were Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. Every day was packed full of lectures, followed by hands-on practice in regulation and voicing. There were 4 instructors and only 6 students, so there was a lot of time to ask questions and get personal training. The head technician at Yamaha is named Tetsushi Niimi. "Terry" is Japanese and spoke good English albeit with a strong accent. I learned a few Japanese characters and words from Terry. He is extremely fast and extremely accurate in his work, and I understand that he earns up to $1000.00 a day, preparing concert pianos for artists and performers. The other instructors were LaRoy Edwards (long-time Yamaha Consultant and expert piano technician, the imfamous Bill Brandom, and Craig Fehrenbacher. Each student was given a lot of printed material covering grand action regulation and voicing. We each had a one-note action model, and our own grand piano upon which to practice regulating. I learned many new and faster techniques for regulating. This was partly a refresher course, but there was much material that was new to me. The training was specific to Yamaha pianos, but most of the techniques will apply to any brand of piano. The bulk of the training was in regulation and voicing. There was a 1 hour written exam, and also a 4 hour hands-on regulating exam. Along with the printed material, I took about 20 pages of notes for further study at home. I got a few free tools out of the deal also! Yamaha Disklavier training Part of the training was in servicing the Yamaha Disklavier (an electronic, solenoid-driven player piano with full recording and playback capability). We received service manuals for all of the Yamaha Disklavier products, and free software for use in calibrating the on-board computer in the control unit. The Disklavier service training was a refresher course for me since I have already attended the Yamaha Disklavier Field Service training, but I am not ashamed to say that I learned (and re-learned) enough information to make it well worth the trip! We each had hands-on training in adjusting and repairing the Disklavier pedal and key solenoids, as well as the sensors on the action and under the keys. We also had hands-on training in trouble shooting the master control unit; including replacing memory chips, upgrading the flash rom, and replacing circuit boards and disk drives. I learned that the key to making a Disklavier play up to its full potential is that the action must be completely regulated and voiced, and then the Disklavier mechanism must be properly adjusted and calibrated. The Disklavier Pro 2000 I saw a $250,000.00 piano, called the Yamaha Disklavier Pro 2000. This is a 7' concert acoustic grand piano with full recording and playback capability. It has an integral computer system, with built in video, sequencer and tone generator! It is a Yamaha C7 in dark Cherry wood, with a lot of Anodized Aluminum on the legs, lyre, key cover, and music desk. The 2-piece lid was clear acrylic plastic and was extremely thick and heavy (like the bullet-proof glass in banks). The neat thing about this piano (besides its futuristic appearance) is the player system that is built in. It has a flat screen computer monitor attached to the left upper side of the music desk. This is a touch-screen that is used to control the Disklavier (the player system) and the sequencer and tone generator. The piano has built in speakers and a built in tone generator, so that while you are playing the piano, you can have an almost unlimited number of synthesized and sampled sounds playing along. It also has the capability of playing a video of a concert artist playing the piano, and the piano plays exactly what the artist has previously recorded. It is like having a performer come into your house to give a private concert! The Yamaha Disklavier Pro can display a score of music, and as you play the piano part, an orchestra plays along with you. When you speed up or slow down, the orchestra follows your tempo. Then when you get to the bottom of the page, the computer turns pages for you! I believe that this piano has a built in 8 or 16 track sequencer. You can compose music directly from the keyboard, using the computer touch-screen. Then you can edit the music score with the built in computer, and arrange different sounds for each track. Then you can play back the finished music and save it as MIDI information to a disk or built in hard drive. That piano was pretty fantastic! Too bad I don't have $250,000.00 laying around in my sock drawer to buy one of these beauties! Piano 300 For those of you who want to see this piano in person, I believe that a Yamaha Disklavier Pro 2000 will be on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. throughout the rest of the year until next March, 2001. This is part of "Piano 300", which is a celebration of 300 years of the invention of the piano. There will be over 150 pianos gathered at the museum, including an original piano built by Cristofori (the man who invented the piano). There is also a write up of this historic collection in the March 2000 issue of the "Smithsonian" magazine. Disklavier Mark III The new Mark III Yamaha Disklavier grand is also pretty incredible. Fortunately, this piano is less expensive than the Pro 2000 I described above! It is an acoustic piano with built in CD player, built in audio, tone generator and record and play back. It records all three pedals, including the sostenuto and una corda pedals. It will even do half pedaling. There are sensors on each key and each hammer to measure accurately what is being played. Then it is recorded into the hard drive (or floppy disk) and plays back exactly as it was played, mistakes and all! The MIDI information can be edited using a computer program, to get rid of all the mistakes before you play it back. It even records the volume from fortissimo to pianissimo, in up to 128 different levels of volume! There is a new development called the "Smart Key" system, which allows a rank amateur to sound like a polished professional playing the piano. When the Mark III Disklavier with "Smart Key" mode, a key will wiggle ever so slightly. When you play that key, a full orchestra will play along with your performance. After you have played the first wiggling key, then another key will wiggle, and so on until you have played a beautiful song even with no musical training. I have been fond of player pianos for quite a while, and to me this is the ultimate dream come true! Recording and highly accurate playback, built in audio with tone generator (and sampled sounds). There are literally thousands of songs that have already been recorded as MIDI information which can be downloaded for free from the internet and played on your Disklavier as a "live" performance! The piano is basically an entertainment device capable of giving a life-time of enjoyment, but the many millions of people who do not play the piano miss out on this wonderful experience. I can see that many non-musicians will once again be drawn to the piano and listen to their favorite songs, even if they are not able to play or read music. At the beginning of the last century during the heyday of the piano, the player piano was the focus of entertainment for many homes. I anticipate that in the future, the Yamaha Disklavier (along with the other solenoid-driven electronic player pianos) will once again cause many homes to be filled with the joyful sounds of "live" performance at the piano. MIDI recording studio At the Yamaha headquarters, they have a MIDI recording studio with a Yamaha Disklavier grand piano. The artist will come in and record on the piano, but instead of doing an audio recording, the music is recorded as MIDI data, and then edited in the computer. Then when the music is completely polished, it is recorded on a floppy disk or CD for later playback on a Disklavier (or other brand of solenoid player piano). Yamaha has some very excellent composers and recording artists working for them. The recording studio was one place I wish that I had more time to visit. The Concert and Artist selection room The Disklavier Pro 2000 and the Disklavier Mark III that we saw were located in a large room filled with about 15 or 20 concert grands. I understand that this is the place where performers and artists will come to choose the piano that they will take on their concert tours. During one class period, we were in a room right next to this "testing" area, and had the privilege of listening to an excellent pianist giving one of these pianos a real workout. In a small shop area right next to this concert and artist room is where the staff piano technicians do their "magic". The shop area appeared to be very well organized, with a huge assortment of tools that I would love to have. I really wish that there was more time to spend in the concert and artist selcetion room and adjacent shop area. If it sounds like I am enthused about the whole experience at Yamaha, I am. I got free food, free lodging, free training, free tools, free software, a nice certificate to hang on my wall, and more knowledge and experience. If Yamaha Piano Company intended to foster good will among the students at the "Little Red School house", they sure succeeded with me! My sponsor for the trip was Heritage Music Mall, (the Joplin, Missouri Yamaha/Baldwin dealer). I am grateful to Heritage Music Mall and to the Yamaha Piano Company for making this great opportunity possible. Disclaimer I am self-employed, and take no commisions from any piano manufacturer or piano dealer. I try to be objective about which pianos I recommend when people ask me about which piano they should buy. I am personally very impressed with the quality of Yamaha pianos, especially the Yamaha Disklavier. I may even end up buying a Yamaha Disklavier for myself. But if someone were to ask me which piano they should buy, I hope I can still be objective and not let my recent experience at Yamaha bias my thinking too much. When I go to Baldwin or Steinway for more training, I anticipate that I will be just as enthusiastic about that experience as I am today about the Yamaha training. For your information, I am aware of the Baldwin ConcertMaster, PianoDisc, Pianomation and other electronic player systems for pianos. I did not intentionally slight anyone in the writing of this article. Relax, you will get your turn at free publicity after I attend the training at each of these factories. For my colleagues: If you ever have the chance to attend the Yamaha "Little Red School House", I urge you to take full advantage of the opportunity. For my customers: I am committed to excellence. I strive to do the best work that I possibly can each time I tune or service a piano. I make it a practice to keep up my skills with regular continuing education, such as the Yamaha "Little Red School House" that I just attended. I am glad for the opportunity to tune and service your piano, and hope that over the coming years I can continue to improve my service to you. Sincerely, David A. Vanderhoofven Registered Piano Technician Vanderhoofven Piano Service Joplin, Missouri
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