Splitting MIDI Channels for Left and Right Hand on Yamaha Clavinova CSP-275 (Streamlight)

Question

I recently purchased a Yamaha Clavinova CSP-275 digital piano that comes with the Stream Lights function. I've been trying to import a song (piano only song) into the piano for practice purposes. While trying to use the "audio to score" function, I only got some chords and the melody was missing.

After some digging, I found a solution to import my MIDI file:

1. I placed my MIDI file in Android/data/jp.co.yamaha.smartpianist/files/user_midi.
2. I realized the recordings I was making on my piano were in SMF 0 format, which contains only a single track.
3. I edited my MIDI file to only include the track containing the music. After placing it back on the tablet, the Smart Pianist app recognized the file and displayed the score correctly, with the Stream Lights also being accurate.

However, I have encountered one final challenge: All the notes in my song are for the right hand. This means I can't practice my left hand or right hand separately. I understand that MIDI files have multiple channels, which I believe might differ from tracks. I assume that perhaps the first channel is for the right hand and the second for the left, but I'm not entirely sure.

Could anyone provide an example of a MIDI file or an explanation on how to separate the two hands in a MIDI composition, specifically for the Yamaha Clavinova CSP models with the Stream Lights function ?

Answer 1

I wanted to provide an update regarding my original inquiry about splitting the MIDI channels for the left and right hands.

My initial intuition about the two channels was correct. After diving into it further, I found that the first channel typically represents the right hand and the second channel represents the left hand in many MIDI compositions for piano.

Using this understanding, I was able to successfully split my MIDI file into two distinct channels for separate hand practice. For those looking to achieve the same, it might be helpful to use MIDI editing software to visually confirm and adjust channels as needed.

Answer 2

I went into this same problem and found the solution.

Here's the solution to transform your MIDI files to be able to split the two hands properly. The midi files I used were from Musecore, which have already the split information for the two hands but that the Smart Pianist app doesn't recognize.

I used Cubase to properly separate the two channels.