“We’ve all seen some cool things that Siri can do, but this has to be the best so far,” Jim Dalrymple reports for The Loop.
“You simply ask Siri to play your favorite song from your iTunes library, and Siri responds immediately, by making the [Yamaha] Disklavier’s keys and pedal move up and down, recreating the performance, including full orchestration,” Dalrymple reports.
Read more in the full article here.
Siri plays a Yamaha Disklavier wirelessly via Wi-Fi and Airplay, complete with moving keys in full expression and moving pedals. Presented by the inventor of SmartKEY for Disklavier, Craig Knudsen:
[Attribution: Cult of Mac. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
It’s not really Siri playing it though is it? It’s just exactly the same ability it already had but combined with other technologies. It’s cool, but not anything specifically related to Siri. You could do this many different ways.
Based on my understanding of it (after some extensive googlling), Siri is playing back an audio file using Airplay, which Airport Express then transmits as analogue audio over regular analogue audio cable to Disklavier. Since this audio signal also presumably contains modulated digital MIDI stream, Disklavier ignores the actual audio and decodes the MIDI stream, which is used to trigger the appropriate piano keys (and pedals) at the precisely specified times, at precisely defined strike force (this is what MIDI normally does).
“…of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world, Siri walks into mine.”
Yours happens to be the smelliest to boot.
You mean its not an invisible siri playing that piano? Im heartbroken.
Still pretty incredible…
Siri?
Will you marry me?
Siri is cool. Lose that doofus who’s with her.
If you can play it her you can play it for me. Play ‘As Time Goes By’ Siri.
I googled high and low and I couldn’t find the explanation, so this is entirely unclear to me. The article says:
Convert MIDI to audio (this part is clear and simple), while maintaining MIDI data (how can this be done??? MIDI is a serial data connection; audio is totally unrelated). Let’s assume for the moment that this is somehow doable; what device out there can actually decipher such an audio/MIDI combination of a file? Especially since the article implies that the part of the loop involves an old-fashioned analogue audio connection (between that Airport Express, playing the presumable hybrid audio/MIDI file, and the Disklavier piano). So, let us, for the moment, imagine that the analogue output from Airport Express somehow contains MIDI data, modulated into the analogue signal somewhere along the audible spectrum (or barely beyond it). The Disklavier would then need to have the ability to accept this audio signal, ignore the actual audio and just look for the modulated MIDI component, decode this and play it back as MIDI??? Nowhere in the specifications for the Disklavier (check Yamaha.com) does is mention this analogue MIDI input feature. Googling didn’t help much. Does anyone else have any additional info to shed some light onto this?
You probably aren’t even close in your estimations. Light enough?
???
Estimations? Which estimations?? Does your reply belong to another thread?
The piano pauses before he says “Please pause for a moment, Siri”. Apparently Siri can read minds too,
If the iPhone is playing music, when Siri is activated, the phone will pause playing the music. No different to when the phone rings or wen a text is received.
Which Microsoft VP is going to say that Windows Phone has been doing this for a year?
OK, after some extensive googling, all I was able to find was that the Disklavier does have some sort of “Analogue MIDI IN” connection. Nowhere on Yamaha’s web site, nor elsewhere that I could find, was I able to figure out exactly HOW does this analogue MIDI IN work; how is the digital serial MIDI stream encoded/modulated into an analogue audio signal what are the specifications to this standard. Nor could I find any indication that there exists a software programme that is capable of rendering an audio file out of a MIDI file while also encoding this modulated analogue MIDI information within it.
If anyone knows more about this, I’m very interested to hear it.
Pretty cool Siri, now make my coffee dammit!
Android losers will post an equivalent for their IRIS but it will play it through a Kazoo! LOL
So it plays the piano version of a song? In other words, you need the piano versions of popular songs in iTunes, or can it take any song and create the piano version of it?
Siri is NOT playing the song, it’s just initiating the play of a MIDI file (much as it can any file in your music library). Extremely deceptive narration in the video.
So who the hell said they only wanted a phone to be a phone?!