Old Yamaha Software, inspiration for new software

[dsvroland]

Hello everyone!

Just to share this information about old Yamaha software, I noticed many years ago that Yamaha once made some really cool software that was only available in Japanese. Many people collect all sorts of stuff, in my case, I collect old Yamaha software.

1. XF-Tool (1995), in this Japanese version, had more options than the English version, it was also a midi editor, karaoke functions, and allowed you to change everything related to the XF format.



2. Karaku (1996), compatible with the XF format, allowed you to view AVI videos while playing a midi, without a doubt it was a great novelty at the time of this software, having karaoke and viewing a video at the same time, the software had a very good GM tone generator built-in, allowing you to have three levels of quality.



3. S-YXG100 with extensions: SG, VL, PVL, allowed you to enjoy Yamaha's modeled timbres, some of which were only available for some Yamaha modules or expansion cards for the PSR-9000pro at the time. It's amazing to have the SG, you can have midis that "sing", it was undoubtedly a predecessor to Vocaloid. I still use it sometimes on Windows ME, just to remember the old days.



4. Jyakajyan (2001), this software allowed you to see the chord positions on the guitar, allowing you to add the 'capo', also compatible with the XF format. It's worth mentioning that there was a mobile version before the Android/iOS era.



5. Ciao Player (2008), it's the closest to having a score display very similar to a Clavinova or DGX. Once again, compatible with the XF format, allowing you to see lyrics, word pronunciation, chords, etc. It still works better than Genos when it comes to showing the sheet music, the Ciao Player has a lot of precision.



I still have some old Yamaha software, but I like those in particular the most.

Based on this, I have now developed software to still use and manage some data related to the XF format.