Which Keyboard?

[shezza]

Hi all, could someone please list some of the earliest Yamahas (I am thinking of cost) that would allow me to play a GM file direct and / or allow me to load the file from the disk and edit the into individual instruments on that file..........Thanks

[pjd]

Do you want to playback a GM file on the keyboard itself or drive a keyboard from a DAW program running on a PC?

Pretty much any Yamaha keyboard that is XG Lite or XG compatible can play a General MIDI file. XG Lite and XG are supersets of the General MIDI standard.

Armed with this info, you should be able to browse eBay, Craigslist, or whatever. All of the old specs and manuals are on-line.

Hope this helps -- pj

[shezza]

I need to load it with a Midifile and then edit the file as I want it to be sound wise etc. And then save and or play it back on keyboard. Nothing to do with PC. Just all done in the KB.

[overover]

Hi all, could someone please list some of the earliest Yamahas (I am thinking of cost) that would allow me to play a GM file direct and / or allow me to load the file from the disk and edit the into individual instruments on that file..........Thanks

Hi shezza,

The newer the keyboard is, the better GM MIDI files played with it sound. I wouldn't go further back than PSR-S910/710 (although S900/700 would also be suitable). Of course it also works with S950/750, S970/770, S975/775, SX900/700/600 as well as Tyros1 - 5 and Genos. The older the keyboard, the more likely it is to experience hardware problems/failures. Therefore, I recommend using a model that is as new as possible (within your budget).


Best regards,
Chris

[Amwilburn]

Unless your files are on floppy disk, I'd avoid the tyros 1 (no USB A port); earliest that had this was the PSR3000, *but* your flash drive must be FAT16, *not* FAT32 (which is default on most USB sticks); FAT16 maxed out at 2GB, btw, so that even if your usb stick were larger than 2GB, once formatted, that's all you would have.

You could of course, upgrade a PSR3000 to FAT32, but you'd need a smart media card reader/writer to do so (and a smart media card, harder to procure than a floppy disk at this point).

So I'm telling you Tyros 2 or later (T3/T4/T5/Genos, s910/s710/s950/s750/sx700/sx900; ironically the sx600 does not have full midi editing capabilities .

Yes if you find a working s900/s700 that would technically work, but I'd avoid those different reasons.



If your song file *is* on floppy disk, then by all means use a PSR2000/2100/1500/1100/1000 or the even older PSR9000/8000, Tyros predecessors

Mark

[shezza]

Yep I have numerous floppy disks that I have collected over the years.

[Amwilburn]

Then ideally you should find an old CVP309; which had *both* floppy and USB

OR just rip the floppy disk contents to your pc hard drive, and then transfer to USB, and then follow the aforementioned advice

Mark

[overover]

Yep I have numerous floppy disks that I have collected over the years.

You can copy the MIDI files from the floppy disks to a USB stick (using a computer with built-in floppy drive or using an external USB floppy drive connected to the computer), for use with newer Yamaha keyboards that have a USB-to-device terminal.


Best regards,
Chris

[pjd]

Hi --

I would recommend transferring those files from floppy to modern media ASAP. I went through this step years ago and haven't looked back since. Floppies in this day and age are just a nightmare and they are always ready to fail.

Once you have the MIDI files, you have many options. Work with floppies and the options are limited and often unreliable.

All the best -- pj

[shezza]

Thanks for all your input I can get hold of an SX600 at the right price. I just need to clarify that it will do what I want it to. Firstly I will not be playing
it much as a "keyboard" I play the Sax and create backing tracks from Midifiles (have just realised I have many files on USB sticks) to play my Sax to. So as mentioned I need to load a Midi into the keyboard so that I can edit it, nothing drastic just mute some tracks and change voices ect.

[Amwilburn]

Thanks for all your input I can get hold of an SX600 at the right price. I just need to clarify that it will do what I want it to. Firstly I will not be playing
it much as a "keyboard" I play the Sax and create backing tracks from Midifiles (have just realised I have many files on USB sticks) to play my Sax to. So as mentioned I need to load a Midi into the keyboard so that I can edit it, nothing drastic just mute some tracks and change voices ect.

Ok, but I must re-iterate: the sx600 has very limited editing capabilities, not like the full fledged editing on the sx700/sx900/s970/s975/s770/s950/s950/s910/s710

You *can* set the voices at the start of each track, but any track that has multiple program (voice) changes, you will wipe out any voice changes during the track for non-gs midi tracks. For GS midi tracks, you won't be able to alter any voice changes that happen after the start.

Mark