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Posted: 02-17-21 5:10 pm
by fmentiplay
Hello All
Synthesia has the ability to "talk" to some lighted "keys' keyboard so that when you play a song in Synthesia it will light up the appropriate keys on the lighted key board, which is a great feature. In the documentation from Synthesia it states that this feature will work on the Yamaha EZ220 keyboard.
Yamaha has recently updated the EZ220 lighted keyboard to the Yamaha EZ300 lighted keyboard.
My question is will Synthesia also work with the new Yamaha EZ300 so that when you play a song with Synthesia you can get it to light up the appropriate keys on the EZ300 so you can learn to play the song?
Any help much appreciated

Posted: 02-17-21 6:38 pm
by Nicholas
I had someone else ask this (via email) about a week ago. My advice was to go ahead and assume it will work. If it doesn't, I'll buy an EZ-300 and make it work.

A couple years ago Casio released a new keyboard model with a proprietary communication scheme for the key lights. Within two months of learning about it, Synthesia had support for them. I have a USB hardware debugger and I know how to use it! :lol:

The only key lights Synthesia doesn't know how to use are on the super high-end Yamaha models, where it's harder to justify the $6k and square footage to get the digital piano for testing. But for the entry-level $100'ish models, I will continue to fill my closet with them to make sure the majority of users have a good experience!

Posted: 02-17-21 7:04 pm
by fmentiplay
Thank you for your quick reply. I love synthesia and I would love to have a keyboard that would light up via Synthesia. BTW I have bought Synthesia.
The way you answered my previous implies you are the developer of Synthesia. Is that correct?
I will take your advice and try and get a Yamaha EZ300. I would prefer the EZ300 over the EZ220 because the EZ220 is quite old and the new EZ300 has newer features. I live in Australia and apparently Yamaha not not releasing the EZ300 in Australia but I will try and obtain one.
Do you know of any other lighted keyboards around the same price ($250 USD) that also might be suitable and available in Australia?
I appreciate your help.
Regards Frank

Posted: 02-20-21 2:20 pm
by Nicholas
Yep, I'm the developer (going on 15 years now, sheesh).

I don't know of anything besides the Yamaha models in that price range that would give nearly the same bang for the buck. Either the EZ-220 or EZ-300 are probably the best options.

Posted: 03-25-21 1:01 pm
by Muzcat
Hi Nicholas.
Awesome program btw.
I have purchased the ez300 and I can't seem to get the keys to light up.
Input/output all seems fine, like you said, I'm guessing they have changed the protocol.
If there is anything I can help with (soft dev, c++, embedded, 20 ish years, might be able to pick up an analyzer from work) please don't hesitate to ask).
Thanks
Shayne

Posted: 03-25-21 3:05 pm
by Nicholas
Strange, I'd already heard separately via email that the EZ-300 worked just fine with the usual "Channel 1" option for "Key Lights" when you choose it from the Music Output list on the Settings screen (the same as the EZ-200).

Have you tried each of the key light settings there?

Posted: 03-25-21 6:09 pm
by Muzcat
You are 100% correct.. I did not find that setting.
Thanks for you time.