Mysteries of the Style Creator

[alanclare]

With my s970 Owner's Manual to hand and the Reference Manual displayed on my iPad, I once more set out to try and understand how to use the Style Creator - and once more I grind to a halt, completely confused. I've lost count of the number of times I've done this. I don't want to create new styles. I just want to do simple things to existing styles. There was a topic raised by NASAMike a few days ago, "Tweaking Styles from YamahaMusicSoft" that raised my spirits. I printed it out. Unfortunately he assumed that I was already familiar with the Style Creator, and I most certainly am not.

Is there a tutorial anywhere that might help to get me started?

Alan

[DerekA]

There's a site called "PSR Tutorial" that contains loads of really useful info 

http://www.psrtutorial.com/lessons/tune/adjStyle/index.html

[alanclare]

Derek

Oh heck! Red face. I looked first of all in the tutorial section and somehow missed it. Thank you very much for getting me back on track.

Alan 

[mikf]

While full style creation is a difficult and mammoth task, simple style editing should not be that difficult. Take a look at the tutorial, but also bear in mind that you can only create styles in one chord. That is really the most difficult thing to grasp, especially with phrases because you have to create in a single chord, but then be able to guess how it will sound when chord changes are played. Takes a lot of trial and error.
Mike

[NASAMike]

One of the main things I notice that is not in the referenced tutorial is how to replace the existing phrases with phrases from other styles (which I do a lot of).  Its really simple. 

After selecting your style and opening Style Creator go to the Assembly tab and you'll see all the parts from a variation (it usually defaults to A but you can change it by selecting whatever variation you want under the Style Control section where you normally move from variation to variation while playing) if you double click the button next to the phrase it will show a menu with that style name on it. 

From that menu you can navigate to any style you want and double click that style name.  It will now put that style name in the affected phrase. 

Then in the bottom section of Style Creator there is a "Copy From" section.  That controls what phrase of the new style you want to use to replace the old phrase.   Then you can use the Start/Stop button to play the style and see how the new part sounds.

For example for Rhythm 1 I usually double click that and go to PRESET/Latin/Beguine and use that RHY1 phrase to replace the current one.

From there its just trial and error on each phrase to see what sounds good and you save it.  You'll probably also have to do some of the other stuff that I put in my "tweaking" note but you do that and save also.

Hope that helps!
NASAMike

[alanclare]

My thanks to both you Mikes for your constructive help. I note that you both use "trial and error" and I find that comforting. This is not a "hard and fast" process, but one that you learn by trying. I shall do that this afternoon and see how I get on. Strangely enough NASAMike, your description of taking bits of one style and sticking them in another is just what I want to do at this very moment.

Alan

[DerekA]

One of the main things I notice that is not in the referenced tutorial is how to replace the existing phrases with phrases from other styles (which I do a lot of).  Its really simple. 

I think you're talking about style assembly. Joe's got that covered ...

http://www.psrtutorial.com/lessons/tune/newStyle/ns2Parts.html

[alanclare]

Is it possible to move Variation B from one style to Varuatiin C in another style?

[mikf]

Yes. But you do it one style part at a time ( not the whole set of parts that make up he variation) l. And you have to check first that they both have the same basic parameters i.e. bar length, time signature etc. 
Mike

[alanclare]

But the method described will only allow me to move a style part from Variation A in style X to Variation A in style Y. I want to move to Variation B in style Y. Or am I wrong in thinking this?

[NASAMike]

You can copy phrases from any of the variations of the new style (inlcuding intros and endings).  Just select it in the "Copy From" section.  The only constraint is on RHY phrases, generally they will only accept other RHY phrases.

[alanclare]

Let me put it another way. Can I copy RHYTHM 1 from Main Variation A in one style and put it in RHYTHM 1 of Main Variation C of another style? I'm sorry for being such a pain.

[mikf]

Yes, you can copy it anywhere you like - to another style, to another variation in the same style, to another variation in the same style ....
....but  make sure the style parameters are set up the same for the two variations you are moving between i.e. bar length, etc. The bar length is nearly always different between style variations in the same style. So you need to make them the same first, and that might not work too well with other parts.
Mike

[alanclare]

I'm obviously missing something. I can only copy a section of one main variation A-D of a style to the same main variation of another style. I thank you both for persevering with me, but I'm going to yield on this one and get on with something else which I know is within my compass.

Alan

[DerekA]

I know you've said you're going to yield but ... here's the extract from the manual. It might seem counter intuitive, but I think what happens at step 3.4 is that *after* you select the style to copy from, you select which section (A-D) and part you want to take from that style and assemble into the one you're currently editing.

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[alanclare]

Derek

You're absolutely right. I've just cracked it. My procedure is.

To change a section of a style from a donor style to the host style, first load the host style and main variation to be altered, and then enter the Style Creator/Assembly.
Choose the section to receive the replacement from the donor style - buttons A-D, F-I.
Alter the Section in the Copy From area at the bottom of the screen to the main variation letter of the donor style. It defaults to the chosen variation of the host style.
Press the section button again to enter the style listings. Choose the donor style and press Exit.
Save the host style.

Alan

[DerekA]

"donor style" - I like it 

[alanclare]

"donor style" - I like it 

As in "donor kidney".

[mikf]

Alan - Looks like you got there in the end!
Just be sure you always look at the number of bars in each part and synchronize those. Typically the style variations have more bars as they get more complex, so if you move a part from variation A to variation B it will have the wrong number of bars and either get cut short or wrap around. There are also other settings that have to line up.
Mike

[alanclare]

Mike

Thanks. One step at a time. I'll get there.

Alan