YPG-235

[YamaHO]

I just picked up a YPG_235. I wanted to have a 76 key in my collection. However, there are no suitable Ballad Styles on there.
They all include the drums hammering away. Because of this, this keyboard is quickly becoming useless to me.
On my (3) e400 series Yamahas, there is a row of buttons for "Track Control". Nice. I simply press the Drums button to completely turn off the drums on my Ballads.

SO..I am looking for a simple Ballad Style with NO drums..something I can download and install in the YPG-235. Or some free software, enabling me to alter a Style on my PC, then reload it into the keyboard.
Help!!

[Graham UK]

First thing to do...Have you downloaded the User Manual to see what editing options you have ?

https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/1/768411/dgx230_en_om_b0.pdf

[YamaHO]

I have. I don't see anything in there, allowing me to alter a Style.

[Graham UK]

If you supply a style for testing, any forum member can mute the drums and re save as user style for you to test.
Otherwise...I can do it for you on my DGX670.

Most styles I change the drums to Brush Kit for a more softer style.

[overover]

Welcome to the PSR Tutorial Forum, YamaHO!

External styles can be used on the YPG-235 (same as DGX-230), but it is relatively complicated. Since it does not have a USB-to-Device connection, you first have to transfer the desired style(s) from the computer to the keyboard via a USB-to-Host connection. Then the desired style must be loaded onto style number 161 with the "Load SFF" function (unfortunately the only slot available for this). Only styles in the style file format "SFF1" with the extension ".STY" are supported. The size of the usable style files is probably limited to a maximum of 50 KB, as with many other Yamaha entry level arranger keyboard models.

To edit style files you can use the PC (Windows) program "MixMaster" by Etienne Volbragt or the style editing programs by Jørgen Sørensen:
>>> https://psrtutorial.com/MB/EV_Files/mixmaster.html
>>> http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/software/software.htm


Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Chris

[YamaHO]

I just downloaded MusicSoft and the USB/Midi driver. That all worked ok. But the only File available to download to my pc was a BUP file.
I was hoping the get the Sty file off the keyboard, then send it your way for modification.

It is the Love Song file I'm interested in. It is the same on as on my PSR-e453..but like I said, on there I can just turn off the drums.
If you have a Love Song Sty file..that is what I need, but with the drums removed. Thanks.

[DerekA]

Just adding a little to what others have said.

It's true that your YPG keyboard does not have the function to alter individual style parts, only the overall volume.

It's also true that you can only have one 'non-preset' style loaded into slot 161 at a time. But you can have more than one 'non-preset' style stored on the keyboard. When you select the function to load a 'non-preset' style into slot 161, you can pick from the list of files stored on the keyboard. There will be a limit on how many you can store, and it will be quite small. It will take a while (a minute or so) to load the file into slot 161, but from then on it will call up instantly just like the preset ones. Until you want to replace slot 161 with a different file of course.

I don't think you can access the preset styles from the USB though. Have a look on this site to see if there's an SFF1 version of the style available for download. You could try it and see if it's the one you want and, if so, ask someone to modify it for you.

[YamaHO]

Hey Graham UK,
So can you send me a STY Love Song file, with the drums removed? That'd be great!

[Graham UK]

YamaHO. I have sent you a PM because I require your email to return LoveSong Drum Edits.    Graham.

[YamaHO]

Thanks! I emailed you.

[YamaHO]

Upon hooking my PC to my YPG-235. MusicSoft Downloader says the connection is good/connected properly.
I added the .sty files, that Graham UK was kind enough to send me. Thanks Graham.
On the lower screen, I clicked on the Instrument's System Drive. It showed a BUP folder. Then it asked if I want to transmit the  (.sty) file. I click  OK. Then it says "The instrument cannot handle this file". WTF? No explanation or clue.
Those files were 50.8 and 50.3 KB. Somewhere I read that they can't be over 50. So I tried one(.sty file) I have here that is 14.8 KB...same thing; "The instrument cannot handle this file".

[overover]

Upon hooking my PC to my YPG-235. MusicSoft Downloader says the connection is good/connected properly.
I added the .sty files, that Graham UK was kind enough to send me. Thanks Graham.
On the lower screen, I clicked on the Instrument's System Drive. It showed a BUP folder. Then it asked if I want to transmit the  (.sty) file. I click  OK. Then it says "The instrument cannot handle this file". ***? No explanation or clue.
Those files were 50.8 and 50.3 KB. Somewhere I read that they can't be over 50. So I tried one(.sty file) I have here that is 14.8 KB...same thing; "The instrument cannot handle this file".

Hi YamahaHO,

It may be a style file in SFF2 format. (The YPG-235 can only load SFF1 styles.) You can find out the style format relatively easily by opening the style file in a text editor (e.g. on Windows: right-click on the file > Open with... > Editor). You will see a lot of "cryptic" characters, but in the first line you will find the format in plain text, either SFF1 or SFF2. It is important to close the file again without saving.

It is possible to convert an SFF2 style to SFF1, but in your case it would be better to use an SFF1 style directly and then edit it either with a suitable PC program or with a keyboard that is NOT SFF2-capable yet. (Newer, SFF2 compatible keyboards can only save edited styles in SFF2[/b] format. Even if it was originally an SFF1 style, after saving it on a newer, SFF2-compatible keyboard, the style would be in SSF2 format.


Best regards,
Chris

[YamaHO]

Hey Chris,
I woke up wondering how I was gonna find out if my files were SFF1 or SFF2..but your simple solution worked great. I just used Notepad.
Now, the problem; Some of them are SFF2, and some are SFF1. Either way, I am getting "The instrument cannot handle this file".
Extremely frustrating, for what should be a simple task. I have sent a question to Yamaha..let's see if I get an answer.
But thanks for your help!

[YamaHO]

I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO IT!! But, after much Internet searching, I still can't find a basic Love Song .sty file with NO percussion.
The process is not user-friendly at all, in my opinion..but after doing it a few times, it makes sense.
If anyone else needs help with the process, I can send you complete instructions.

[Graham UK]

YamaHO. You state that you own a number of keyboards so why not edit styles on one of the boards that contains Style editing options ?.

[overover]

Hi YamaHO,

I edited the "LoveSong" style of 8 different SFF1 keyboard models for you (drum channels 1-9-10 or 8-9-10 respectively set to volume zero).

Under the following link you can download a zip file that contains the original version as well as a version without drums of the following models. The abbreviations used in the file names are in brackets. The suffix "-drm" in the file names means "without drums".

PSR-2000 (2k)
PSR-2100 (2k1)
PSR-3000 (3k)
PSR-9000 (9k)
9000pro (9kp)
PSR-S900 (S9)
Tyros1 (T1)
Tyros2 (T2)

>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hcgbfa2h322ib3/sty%20LoveSong%20SFF1%20with%26withoutDrums.zip?dl=0


Hope this helps!


P.S.
If you're interested in how I removed the drums from the style files:

1. If the file name extension isn't already ".sty" or ".STY", change it to ".sty". If a so-called Icon-ID (".S###" or ".T###") is present before the extension, as a precaution, delete this Icon ID including the additional period.

2. Load the style file into the MixMaster PC (Windows) program (current version = v22r2).

3. Click on "Voices View" button and find out which MIDI channels are used for the parts "Rhy1" and "Rhy2". (Depending on the keyboard model, in the case of the "LoveSong" style, it was either channels 1-9-10 or channels 8-9-10.)

4. Close the "VoicesView" window and now click on the "Volume View" button. Here, set the sliders to zero for the drum channels identified earlier, and then click the "Update Channel Volumes" button. Close the "VolumeView" window.

5. Click on "Save As" button and save the edited style with new/changed name to the desired location.

6. Done!


Best regards,
Chris

[YamaHO]

Graham, I did that with my s770, but they were in SFF2 format.

THANKS, CHRIS, FOR THE FILES!

[overover]

... THANKS, CHRIS, FOR THE FILES!

You are welcome, YamaHO!

Thanks for your feedback.


Best regards,
Chris