Ez300 and Synthesia

[Jaca]

Hello, people ! I bought a new Yamaha EZ-300 after watch a lot of videos on youtube. Yeah, it's really impressive !

But I bought to my son...I make him watch videos from Synthesia and the EZ-300 by promissing him that he will learn on that fashion.

But I am really facing difficulty to make the lights work with Synthesia. Syntehsia says that channel 1 is used to mostly Yamaha models. But no, it's not working.

In fact I attempted in all the channels with no success using the iPad App and also the Windows EXE

Any clue ??? Will be frustrating to return this one to the shop to get a ez-220

 

[maverich40]

I would be fascinated to know how you expect Synthesia to operate through EZ-300.

It is true that MIDI files can be played in real time, using a USB cable and cell phone or tablet;
and depending on the type of MIDI file, they can sometimes trigger the lights to play along.
This does not mean that pressing they keys independent of the MIDI playing will play the same way!

Simply feeding audio in (using audio input jack) will not work; audio is simply heard from the speakers, that is all.

There are built in songs, which can be accessed through the "Lesson" feature, however if I may so say, it sounds like
an even more fundamental understanding of things is in order first. The Yamaha manual can help explain the LESSON
features.

Sorry if you misunderstand the features of these keyboards, somehow I doubt even the EZ-220 would do what you describe.

A video from youtube is just an independent thing; it does not interface (connect to) any musical keyboard I am aware of
to allow that keyboard to play along. MIDI files do have this capability sometimes, but it takes a tablet or cell phone,
using the free Chordana app, and then having been able to copy MIDI music files onto your phone or tablet in the first place.

Your son would benefit more from videos about beginner music theory, instead of just jumping directly into
playing. Background is needed to understand the how's and why's music works the way that it does. Mimicking pressing keys
on his keyboard is not actually KNOWING HOW to play.

I wish you luck.

 

[maverich40]

So I read up on what Synthesia actually is:

About Synthesia

Synthesia is your piano tutor

www.synthesiagame.com

This would involve having a PC, or Smart Phone, or a Tablet, with a USB cable that then plugs into the musical keyboard itself.

Such data-transfer cables are not included with musical keyboards. Also, depending on the Smart Phone or model Tablet you
might own, an additional adapter might be needed before the actual data-connection can be made. Particularly if you have a modern device that uses USB-C cables/connectors. These adapters are available from Amazon.com, shop carefully.

Using the Synthesia software apparently, it transfers a MIDI file to the keyboard in a way that allows interaction to take place.
Not unlike the free Chordana app I described in my original reply....

But I stand by my original comments that this would not actually "teach" music, it would introduced all sorts of "mixed messages"
and confusion later I would think! Despite the obvious fun of possibly being able to mimic a player-piano effect, learning about
staffs, clefs, notes, tempo, rhythm, chords, etc., would remain shrouded in mystery.

Slight possible exception of playing MIDI's specifically designed to "teach" music theory, along with a detailed book, or very detailed
instructional video, and even if such a thing exists, I doubt it would be free or cheap.

Minimum requirements are a PC, the proper USB data-transfer cable (perhaps requiring an adapter only if necessary), and the
actual Synthesia software itself. Then you also must obtain, download, or purchase MIDI files to play through the Synthesia software.

One such youtube video (probably not best, but applicable) I found was this one:

Good luck!

 

[maverich40]

UPDATE!
Maybe this will help:

I decided to download and install the Synthesia "free" app on my Samsung Android tablet...
To unlock all of its features is $8.00 -- very pricey for any app IMHO.

*** It did take some experimentation before I finally was able to get OUTPUT to my Yamaha EZ-300, but yes, Synthesia, ***
*** in its FREE DEMO MODE, DOES WORK with the EZ-300. ***

Apparently, what was required:
1) make certain to properly connect the PC (Smart Phone or Tablet) to the EZ-300 using the CORRECT USB Cable!
This is a DATA-CABLE and NOT just a charging cable! So yes there are two types of USB cables out there: one that only charges
devices, and one that only handles charging devices, AND another type for transmitting data to devices (and charges too)!
*USB cable required by EZ-300 should be a bi-directional data-transfer cable by default!

2) inside the Synthesia App (I am using a Tablet here, NOT a PC)
(this assumes you have a working USB cable connection):

Make certain to select the Yamaha Keyboard for Input
Make certain to select the Yamaha Keyboard for Output

2b) It was apparently necessary to actually SELECT the 1st key, and the 61st key, to establish the Note-range!?!

After all that was done, I was able to play Synthesias default internally supplied MIDIs on my EZ-300, with the keys lighting up just fine!

I suppose screen caps could be taken to show exactly what settings are in use here, but it was "sort of" intuitive...

Bottomline here is that YES the Synthesia App (probably the PC version too) does / will work with the EZ-300, as long as the
App (or PC Software) is configured properly, AND that you have the proper USB data-transfer cable (and not just a charging USB cable).
If your device has a USB-C connector, you may also need a special USB plug adapter that fits in between the USB Cable and the
device that it plugs into.

And yes playing on the EZ-300 keyboard itself registers just fine in the Synthesia App! It clearly shows the notes play, duration, etc!
I am not sure I want to purchase a key and fully unlock all of its features, but I might.

Hope someone found this helpful... good luck!

 

[Vash1]

Hello!

Thanks a lot for your reply, I was looking to get an EZ-300 too, just wanted to double check that you were able to do the following with the synthesia software installed-

Play any MIDI song you want as long as theres an ipad/pc connected to the keyboard with working lights that stop (Im assuming thats controlled by the software and not the keyboard) and whenever you press the buttons it continue execution.

Thanks!!

 

[maverich40]

EZ-300 has two ways to play MIDIs from my limited experience:
1) in real time from a Tablet using either Cordana or Synthesia
2) By copying the MIDI file directly into the EZ-300's own internal flash memory storage.
Where it will remain until it is erased, or replaced by another file.

The only problem I find as far as "control" of the MIDI during playback depends on whether you are using a tablet-app or the keyboard itself... the playback of a MIDI in Yamaha's Learn Mode is tricky, I find; but that could only be due to my limited experience.

I just kind of jumped into it all, hoping to learn as a went... I haven't had enough time to fully explore all the possibilities yet.
I would say that make sure whatever USB cable you plan to use, that it is a full bi-directional data cable, and you will certainly be able
to safely experiment all you want, between PC, Tablet, and EZ-300.

Wish you luck. Please share your experience with the forum.

 

[Hanzzz]

(on Ipad) if you put the Synthesia app input and the output settings on "midi keyboard" (in the settings on the start page of the Synthesia app), and you put "key lights" on inside the output settings, then it should work quite fast. Perhaps you will need to do some searching inside the app to find the right pages .
And you need the right connector of course (sometimes only the official Apple ones are the only ones that work) , but the Synthesia app has some recommendations for that at the button "need help connecting your keyboard?" inside the settings