MIDI velocities capped?

[Larry Kellogg]

I own a DYUS5 Disklavier with the Enspire ST unit.

Even though I love playing acoustically, I have decided to try to improve the silent practice output.

I have connected the USB to Host to my MacBook Air, run either the Modern U or VSL Bösendorfer Studio upright VST outputting to an RME Babyface Pro FS to a pair of 150 ohm Sennheiser 660 S headphones.

I have noticed that my MIDI velocities seem capped at around 72, although I managed to generate 82.

Why doesn’t it generate 0-127?

Can I fix this with the maintenance menu? Do I need to remap them to 0-127?

The Enspire app does not have any in-depth MIDI editing capabilities.

I get the piano tuned every 3-4 months and have the tech run the calibration. Is lack of calibration causing the problem?

Thanks for the help.

[George Frederick Litterst]

Good morning, everyone.

Larry, I can tell you definitively that the Disklavier is not designed to produce routinely note-on velocities across the full spectrum of 1-127.

I have no knowledge as to whether one Disklavier model behaves differently than another. I tend to think not. In other words, it would have been counter productive for Yamaha to design some models with a velocity profile that does not match the others. If they did, how could they sell recordings that would play properly on every model?

My first advice is to ensure that your Disklavier is (1) properly regulated from a mechanical perspective and then (2) calibrated using its internal, closed-loop calibration functions.

From having studied thousands of Disklavier recordings—including all of those recorded in the Piano-e-Competition over many years—I can confidently tell you the following:

—Casual playing will yield velocities in the range of 35/45 to 80/85.

—Dynamically expressive playing may widen the range to 30 to 90/95.

—Extremely expressive, concert-quality performances may range from 25 to 105/110, the highest ranges generally supported by thick chords.

Note-on velocities beyond 110 are extremely rare and sound very unmusical unless supported by a thick, thunderous texture of notes.

Note-on velocities below 25 are usually the result of key presses that were not well controlled, key bounces, and brushed notes. In other words, they happen but are usually not intentional.

I have never heard an explanation from Yamaha about the philosophy behind its mapping of actual hammer (or key) velocities (measured in meters per second) to MIDI values. I suspect that the philosophy was to construct a mapping of velocities that can actually be generated naturally or artificially (say, by slamming the keys with your fist or slowly pulling down the key) and thus provide some margin beyond the range of normal playing.

Out of the thousands of recordings that I looked at from the Piano-e-Competition, I only saw a handful that exceeded 115. I don’t think that I ever saw one above 122.

Interestingly, after more than 40 years of MIDI experience, the industry seems to be converging on some standards in this regard:

https://midi.org/event-calendar/piano-profile-demo?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NAMM%20Is%20Next%20Week%21&utm_campaign=January%202026%20MIDI%20Notes%20Newsletter%20%20%28Copy%29&vgo_ee=jHo%2B6oatTLR%2BDzO4hxtuEq6OVUZByg2dQeKHk%2Fm69FU77xmp%2Bm%2FNfUVG%3AZPTlWCfuM2g2ec6pWr7H%2BVG%2BKvoYx32W

This convergence involves the participation of Kawai, Steinway, and Yamaha and addresses note velocities as well as incremental pedaling.

This velocity issue goes off the rails when one factors in digital pianos and keyboards with semi-weighted and lightly weighted keys. When a pianists play those instruments, they are in an artificial environment in which they can boost or cut back the volume by twisting a knob or moving a lever. Thus the measured key velocities have no real-world analog. I think that explains the reason for why—outside of the world of acoustic MIDI pianos made by Yamaha and companies with a similar design velocity—you find MIDI recordings with extraordinarily high velocities.

Georg (aka PianoBench)

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[Larry Kellogg]

Hello George, 

Thank you for your insights. They are very much appreciated.

My tech tunes and calibrates my Disklavier every 3-4 months.

Based on your experience with Disklavier recordings, I conclude that my piano is operating as designed.

How can I produce a volume level on headphones that comes close to the volume of the piano when I play acoustically? 

What do VSTs expect for the range of values? Should I remap my 0-84 to 0-127 on a VST?

Throwing a volume control into the mix causes a lot of problems, as you pointed out.

When I play professional Disklavier recordings, I play at half or less than full volume because my piano is in a small dining room. It can produce a tremendous amount of sound.

Most of the time, I listen to it in an adjoining living room.

When I play acoustically, I’m not a loud player but I have noticed that my teacher can really make it shout.

Best,

Larry 

On Jan 18, 2026, at 8:54 AM, George Frederick Litterst <piano...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good morning, everyone.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/disklavier-support-group/9713FC24-FE0D-4E7B-A902-EA02613B91AB%40gmail.com.

[Guido tum Suden]

Hello Larry,

There was a really good website explaining everything you needed to know about MIDI and Disklavier. Unfortunately, a few years back, it was suddenly gone.

I can’t remember its name. It might have been http://midigrandpiano.com/

Anyway, your standard MIDI file has velocity from 0 to 127. Playing a software piano, 0 already lets you hear a note. 127 is the loudest it was sampled or processed.

If you hit a key very softly, your Disklavier will not make a sound until you hit a key hard enough, so that the hammer touches the strings. On the other end, you may be able to get a 127 from your Disklavier, but you have to hit the key so hard that you won’t feel good about it.

Those are the extremes, but your Disklavier is able to reproduce those notes.

This is the reason why it’s never a good idea to let your Disklavier play a normal MIDI file. A loud rock piano is often played between 100 and 127. Some MIDI files use 100 or 127 the whole time and just turn down the volume to get a hard sound. If you let your Disklavier play that, I could imagine that you might even damage it.

On the other hand, if you just turn velocity down by 30 or so, soft notes may not even yield a sound.

That means you have to compress the MIDI notes. Logic Pro can do that, and I guess there is a lot of software out there that can, too.

Also, remember that the volume buttons on your Disklavier are not volume knobs since that is not possible. Instead, if you turn down the volume, the velocity is reduced, or, I guess, compressed as well, because otherwise, a really quiet passage won’t make a sound at all if you turn the volume all the way down.

Also, if you play „normal“ MIDI files, you will find that the Disklavier will often not play a repeated note because the Disklavier, as a real piano, will need time to move the hammer back. If a repeated note in the MIDI file was set to legato, the Disklavier can’t play the second note because the hammer is still at the strings. There is a MIDI setting within the Disklavier that will create the needed spaces, but you will get latency, and the overall velocity is slightly different.

Cheers,

Guido

[Larry Kellogg]

Hello Guido,

  Thanks for that explanation.

  I don’t play regular MIDI files, only PianoSoft titles I buy from Yamaha. 

  I bought a little program that will allows me to build a curve to push up the velocity levels from the Disklavier to make it easier to play a VST. It is called VelPro,

    I think this is the solution to the low volume levels on the VSTs I have tried.

  Best,

  Larry 

 

On Jan 20, 2026, at 8:53 AM, Guido tum Suden <guido.t...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Larry,

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/disklavier-support-group/e889f781-1e92-47ff-a323-c607fc2ffb2en%40googlegroups.com.