help me out

[vimal dutt]

i am new to yamaha keyboard , i am using yamaha psr i425 (indian). i am facing problem in switching voices while keeping the same style during live performance . as per manual we can do it by adding song to registration memory but recalling process is too long , and during live performance i have to change voice from strings to trumpet to flute number of times .
how can i do this without changing the background style ?. and what is shortcut that people do when changing voice quickly like in one touch .

waitng for your reply /...

 

[SeaGtGruff]

What the comment in the manual means is that if you activate the Song mode-- i.e., press the "Song" button so it's lit up-- before you save your settings to a Registration, the Style settings won't be saved to the Registration, such that when you recall the Registration later it won't change the currently-selected Style.

(1) Enter the settings-- Voices, etc.-- that you want to save to the Registration.
(2) Press the Song button, but don't bother selecting a Song-- you just want to make sure the "Song" button is lit up, rather than the "Style" button.
(3) Save the Registration as described in the manual.

Then you should be able to select a Style and switch between different Registrations without changing the Style you've selected. Just be sure that you've saved each of the Registrations with the Song mode activated.

Your biggest problem is probably going to be that there are only two Registration buttons, so if you want to switch between more than two Voices per song then you'll need to switch to a different Registration Bank as quickly as possible.

 

[vimal dutt]

hi... thanks for your valueable reply , yes in this keyboard i can only go for two registration memory or i have to change bank number . but i managed to do so .
i have some other issues too ,please help in sorting those too.
1. using style file, i used comuper to import style file from internet with the use of music software , it goes well but i found that style files those are more than 30kb in size were not working , only small size files please guide in this issue .
2 . there is voice tabla and dadra both are on auto arpeggio , how can i use that voise as style .
can i improve the sound of sexophone , like it comes when sexophone is played live onwith echo and reverb i mean adding little gain .?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

(1.) There's a size limit for loading styles into the PSR-I425. I'm not certain how big the limit is, but if you've purchased style files online, or downloaded free style files, it's possible they contain more sections than you can use. The PSR-I425 and other XGlite-compatible keyboards can play only two style variations-- A and B. XG-compatible keyboards can usually play four style variations-- A, B, C, and D. Note that there are also different types of sections in a style-- Intro, Main, Fill-In, Break, and Ending-- so we're actually talking about several sections that can't be used, and which (if they're present in the file) are just wasting memory space. Removing any such unusable sections from a style file might reduce it to a size which is small enough to load into the PSR-I425.

By the way, if you're going to make any changes to a style file, it's a really good idea-- an absolute must, really-- to save a backup of the original, unmodified style file somewhere. Never ever make changes to your one and only copy of a style file, especially if it's one that you purchased.

"The Unofficial YAMAHA Keyboard Resource Site" has many free utilities for Yamaha keyboards (http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/software/software.htm), and some of them should help you to modify style files as needed so they can be loaded into your PSR-I425 and played using the desired voices, as follows:

(a.) Use the "Style Format 2 Converter" utility to convert an "SFF2" style file to an "SFF1" file. It's possible that the style files you're trying to use are already "SFF1" files, but if any of them are "SFF2" files then you'll need to convert them to "SFF1" files before doing anything else with them.

(b.) Note that if you aren't sure whether a particular style file is an "SFF1" or "SFF2" file, you can use the "Style Format Finder" utility to find out.

(c.) Use the "Style Old Format Converter" utility to modify an "SFF1" file as needed to make it compatible with keyboards that work best with an older "SFF1" file format. This utility has six checkboxes, and for the PSR-I425 you should probably check all of them except the last one-- "Use GM voices"-- which you can leave unchecked.

(d.) Use the "Style ReMixer" utility to remove any unusable sections from the style file, as well as to rearrange the sections if desired. For instance, if you have a style file that contains four variations, you could use the "Style ReMixer" utility to create two versions of it, each containing two variations-- variations A and B in one version, and variations C and D (moved into the "slots" for variations A and B) in the other version. That way you can still use all four variations of a style, although you'll be able to use only two variations at a time. You can also use this utility to remove the "OTS" and "MDB" segments of the style file, since the PSR-I425 can't use them. The PSR-I425 can use the following style sections:

Main A
Main B
Fill-In AA *
Fill-In BB *
Fill-In AB *
Fill-In BA *
Intro A
Intro B
Ending A
Ending B

* In theory, the PSR-I425 can play these four Fill-In sections; but in practice, only two of them can be triggered using the style control buttons. I think the two which can be triggered are Fill-In AB and Fill-In BA, although they might be Fill-In AA and Fill-In BB-- and I'm not sure it even matters-- but you could hedge your bets by using the same Fill-In measure for both Fill-In AA and Fill-In AB, and then a second Fill-In measure for both Fill-In BB and Fill-In BA.

(e.) If desired, you can use some of the other utilities-- e.g., "Style Revoicer," "Style Tempo Editor," and "Style Volume Changer"-- to make adjustments to the voices or other parameters that are used in a style.

I'll have to look at the list of voices, arpeggios, etc., in the PSR-I425 Owner's Manual before I can try to answer your second question, so I'll post more later regarding your second and third questions.

 

[vimal dutt]

ok thanks . .
cn I use korg styles in my keyboard psr 425i . korg have beautiful indian styles .

 

[SeaGtGruff]

You can't directly use styles created for another manufacturer's keyboards, because each manufacturer has their own file formats, keyboard voices, etc. However, if you're very familiar with the file formats and so on that two different manufacturers use, it's possible-- although not easy-- to convert a file from one manufacturer's format to the other's. But such conversions are very rarely perfect, due to irreconcilable differences that usually exist between the features and functionalities of one manufacturer's keyboards and those of the other manufacturer.

There used to be a program called Styleworks (http://www.stylediskwarehouse.com/styleworks.htm) that could be used to convert styles between manufacturers, but I've never used it and don't even know if it's still available (the web site hasn't been updated for years and the links no longer work). There's also EMC Style Works XT, which may or may not be the same program (http://www.emc-musicsoftware.com/ep...bjectPath=/Shops/62511965/Products/stwxt_0001). And I believe there's a forum somewhere that's devoted to converting styles between manufacturers, but I can't find the link right now, and IIRC you have to pay to join.

On the other hand, the PSR Tutorial web site has some Korg styles which are already converted for Yamaha keyboards (http://psrtutorial.com/sty/keyboards/korg.html), although I don't know if any of them are Indian styles-- and keep in mind that they'll probably need to be converted/reformatted and revoiced for the PSR-I425, as described in my previous post.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

can i improve the sound of sexophone , like it comes when sexophone is played live onwith echo and reverb i mean adding little gain .?

I'm reading "like it comes" to mean "using the default voice settings"-- i.e., there are parameters that control a voice's volume, pan value, octave offset, reverb depth, and chorus depth, and each voice has certain default values for these settings. There's no way to change the default values which are stored in the keyboard's ROM, but you can select a voice, use the Function menu to modify the settings for the various parameters, then save your setup as a registration. There are a number of different saxophone voices on the PSR-I425 (some are panel voices, others are XGlite voices), so the first step will be to try each of those voices to determine which one is closest to what you want, then modify its parameters and save them to a registration.

If you're creating or editing a MIDI file-- either a song file or a style file-- and you want to use a modified voice in it, you'll need to enter the desired parameter settings using the appropriate MIDI Control Change messages or XG SysEx (System Exclusive) messages. These are listed in the Owner's Manual, although there isn't very much detailed information provided about them.

The easiest approach would be to make the desired changes to the parameter settings on the keyboard, then either use the keyboard's built-in song recorder to record your tracks, or-- if you're recording with a DAW-- use the keyboard's "InitSend" function to send the necessary MIDI messages to the DAW at the beginning of your recording; otherwise you would need to insert the appropriate MIDI messages yourself.

2 . there is voice tabla and dadra both are on auto arpeggio , how can i use that voise as style .

I had a quick look at the PSR-I425 Owner's Manual to see about the voices you mentioned. I see that voices 129 (Teen Tal C) through 134 (Dadra G) use the Tabla Kit (voice 152), but have the arpeggio function turned on and presumably use some of the arpeggios numbered 51 (TeenTalC) through 62 (Dadra A).

However, I'm not certain what you're wanting to achieve when you ask "how can i use that voise as style." An arpeggio isn't a style and can't be used in the same way that a style is. Furthermore, I don't know whether an arpeggio can be used with a style as such.

On the other hand, if you're using a utility program to create your own style files or to change the voices used in existing style files, you can select whichever kit(s) you want to use for channels 9 and 10, the two channels used in a style file for drums and percussion. To use a given voice or kit in a MIDI song file or style file, you must specify it using its Bank Select and Program Change numbers, which are listed in the Voice List in the Owner's Manual. Each voice or kit has two Bank Select numbers-- the MSB (most significant byte) number and the LSB (least significant byte) number-- and one Program Change number.

Be warned that Yamaha adds 1 to the Program Change numbers, so you must subtract 1 from them when you're specifying them in a MIDI file. Actually, this is a rather confusing issue, because it can vary from one Yamaha manual to the next (e.g., the manuals for older models may list them without adding 1 to them, whereas manuals for newer models usually list them with 1 added to them), and it can also vary depending on the type of MIDI message being used, as well as the software being used to edit the MIDI file. The original MIDI standard-- "General MIDI" or "GM"-- identified 128 different instrument sounds and sound effects called programs or patches, and specified a Program Change message for selecting these programs. The programs are numbered as 0 through 127 inside the Program Change messages, but are often listed in print using the numbers 1 through 128-- e.g., the Acoustic Grand Piano program is selected using a Program Change value of 0, but is frequently listed in print as program number 1. Then Yamaha created XG as an extension to the GM standard, and in its XG SysEx messages the programs are numbered as 1 through 128. Furthermore, there's no consistency among software developers as to whether they use the numbers 0 through 127 or 1 through 128 for the programs. Therefore you must pay attention to the program-numbering scheme used in whatever list you happen to be referring to, the program-numbering scheme used in whatever MIDI message you happen to be using (i.e., Program Change message or XG SysEx message), and the program-numbering scheme used in whatever software you happen to be using to enter or edit the MIDI messages. It's a confusing mess, and I think the MIDI Manufacturers Association should be ashamed of themselves for creating the mess in the first place and then allowing it to get so out of hand instead of putting a stop to it.

Anyway, when you want to select a particular voice inside a MIDI song file or style file, you must give its Bank Select MSB number, its Bank Select LSB number, and its Program Change number, in that order. I see on page 113 of the PSR-I425 Owner's Manual that there are actually a total of four Indian kits, although only two of them have Voice numbers:

Voice 152: Tabla Kit | Bank Select MSB = 126, Bank Select LSB = 0, Program Change = 115 (or 116 inside an XG SysEx message)
Voice 153: Indian Kit | Bank Select MSB = 126, Bank Select LSB = 0, Program Change = 114 (or 115 inside an XG SysEx message)
Voice ---: Tabla Kit | Bank Select MSB = 126, Bank Select LSB = 0, Program Change = 116 (or 117 inside an XG SysEx message)
Voice ---: Indian Kit | Bank Select MSB = 126, Bank Select LSB = 0, Program Change = 39 (or 40 inside an XG SysEx message)

As far as arpeggios are concerned, my recollection is that turning on the arpeggio feature and choosing an arpeggio number doesn't generate any MIDI messages, so as far as I know you can't select or control an arpeggio in a MIDI file. (There might be some Sequencer-Specific Meta-Event messages that can do this, but if so I don't know what they are.) When you turn on an arpeggio and record a song, what happens is that the sequencer (built-in song recorder) records the actual notes that are played by the arpeggio-- at least, I think it does; certainly they get recorded when you convert the User Song to SMF (standard MIDI file), or when you output the song's playback to a computer. Thus, if you're creating your own style files you could record your tracks in a DAW with the arpeggio feature turned on, and the DAW will capture the pattern of notes as they're generated by the arpeggio.