Yamaya UD-BT01 with Android

[j_s]

Just joined  I'm a 70YO wannabee piano player and I have a Yamaha PSR-EW410 which I love but can't really play  being doing lessons for a while now.

I finally got the above dongle only to be disappointed like a lot of other people on it's lack of support for Android from Yamaha, the only way I can touch an Apple product is with a hammer. Apologies to the Apple lover. 

Anyone else has any further insight on the subject? There seems to be an Android MIDI/Bluetooth "bridge" app but I'm not sure how well it works, I guess I will have to download it and try it out.

I don't have much of a clue on what apps are around to play Midi files, I have a paid version of Midiclef which is a midi/Karaoke player and I was hoping to get the dongle to work with it but like others I can see the dongle paired but thereafter it's just a paper weight, a very light one at that.

John

[j_s]

The silence is deafening :-) Just heard back from Yamaha and no Cigars for Android users :-(  tried the bridge  mentioned above and I can see MIDI In and Out ports in the app but no idea what to do next.

Anyway I'll keep on digging.

[mikf]

The silence I guess is because not many members have this. I had to look it up as I had never heard of it.
Most of the popular Yamaha keyboards allow you to load a play midi directly from a USB, or load them into the keyboard memory, and that is what people would do rather than mess with wireless.
On the learning to play bit, you say you are doing lessons, do you mean you are taking lessons, in person or on line or are you using an app? Learning to play keyboard is not easy, especially starting quite late, but many have done it and a good teacher can guide you so you get there quicker.
Mike

[overover]

Hi John,

I think the main problem is your "MIDI Clef" app itself: I installed the demo version on my Android smartphone, and I could not find any MIDI OUT settings in this app. Are you sure, YOUR paid version really has a MIDI OUT option?

As far as I could see, the app can play MIDI files via an integrated software synth, but obviously the MIDI data cannot be routed "to the outside" or to other apps.

Since I don't normally work with MIDI apps on Android, I am unfortunately currently not aware of any other suitable app that can play MIDI files, display the lyrics and send the MIDI data to other apps or externally via USB or directly via Bluetooth LE can output.


Best regards,
Chris

[j_s]

Sorry didn't get replies notifications. 

do you mean you are taking lessons, in person or on line

Yes, I'm taking lessons. For the first 9 months it was in person, then I had 3 months break, restarted lessons in person then COVID struck so now about 14 months using Zoom until I stopped in April. Still doing practice.

The original incentive for getting the dongle was to use the app "Music tutor" (teaches to read music) but I was thinking of sitting on the lounge while using it without using the USB cable. This would allow me to hear the notes displayed on the app for ear training, all works wells with the USB cable but the app seems to use Audio over USB rather than MIDI commands, didn't read the fine print. 

So plan 2....use it to play MIDI files.....

I could not find any MIDI OUT settings in this app. Are you sure, YOUR paid version really has a MIDI OUT option?

No, again jumped in without doing research, I have taken it up with the Midiclef author but he doesn't seem too interested in doing any changes for now even though he should be able to get a few sales from the additional features. Oh well, live and learn. I'm sure eventually I will be able to use the dongle for something.

[overover]

Thanks for your feedback John!

There should be other suitable Android apps that can play MIDI files and either can connect directly to Bluetooth LE MIDI or at least can route the MIDI data to a MIDI routing app that supports Bluetooth LE. But, as already mentioned, I'm not aware of such Android apps at the moment. Maybe other forum members can help you regarding this topic.


Best regards,
Chris

[j_s]

Just turned notifications on but I'll check back from time to time for updates in case I don't get notifications.

[j_s]

Yeeppee!!  Stumbled across this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dcm.pianomidibleusb

Just testing it now but it seems to work very well with my Samsung Galaxy TAB 10, it seems to have some issues opening files from the SD card where all my midis files are but I copied a couple into the internal storage MIDI folder and it finds them.