I think I have a problem........

[rattley]

Hello,

Should I seek help??   Some might say so.  Today I located hundreds of data CDs and DVDs filled with keyboard materials going back to 1999.  This was the storage medium we used then. Should I mention all the floppys I saved to DVD?  I had a Korg i40M then that loaded styles via floppy!!  Out of all of these I have 23,728 non-Yamaha style files.  I haven't even begun to look at just my Yamaha styles. There's gotta be over 100,000!!!    That number is deceiving as I know there are lots of duplicates and trash styles. These were collected during my first style conversions way back and continues until today.  I wouldn't call this a "collection" yet until I can find some real value in it.  Right now it is just a pile of styles.

Now that I am retired I have been making better attempts at better more organized file storage. I have wasted so much time trying to sort out this huge pile. I don't want to make the same mistakes again. I take the time now to try and make things better.   So..........How many styles do you think you have??   Will you ever use them all? 

Call me a style pig     -charley

[mikf]

I would throw them away. A collection like this is really too big to be useful. You could spend years just trying to categorize them, only to find many were duplicates, virtual duplicates, sometimes with different names, sometimes with only little differences like tempo or OTS, some would be junk and not work, and so on...Finding something useful would not be worth the effort. Start again and only keep really good and useful stuff, go for quality not quantity.
Many of us are 'style hungry' to begin with, but we eventually figure out huge style collections are not that useful.
Mike

[ton37]

A good description @mikf. That's an addiction that many keyboard players suffer from. The goal is more about collecting than using. I confess that long ago I also participated in it. Tens of thousands of styles collected and in the end you only use a few dozen, but they are good ones. Indeed nice terms to use: 'style-hungry' nice one. Or 'style addict' or 'style obsession' or 'style junk'. I don't know if there is a cure for it yet. Or perhaps treatment in the 'style addiction rehab clinic'? 
However @rattley, you're on the right track: you already acknowledge that you wrote: 'I think I have a problem... ' Recognition is the first step in getting rid of it..

[Divemaster]

Hi Charley   I won't call you Style Pig! 😂

You are not alone!!

I moved during the late 1980's to the house I now call home. I worked my way through pretty well every pc version from DOS, Windows 3.1 onwards right up to Windows 10 today. I have the skeletal bones of around 30 computers, many of which I built myself, along with several working ones which run W98, XP, 2000, 7 and 8.1.
These older working pc's are never reconnected to the router. To do so would invite the inane Microsoft update wheels to turn again. NOooooooooo. Not a chance. But they are so, so useful.
So they are my R&D pc's on which I can still run all sorts of ancient software.
But the one thing I won't do is throw anything out.
I have a saying "The part you throw out today will be the part you need tomorrow" and in my experience all us old guys were born with this basic survival tool.
So   based on that.... KEEP EVERYTHING!!

I have Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Technics, Ketron, Orla, Hammond, and other styles, software and information. Well over 5,000 floppy discs, and other stuff stored on CD's.
Also a lot of CD's picked up from music shops and magazine covers all over the world.

Like you, and having been retired since 2010 I now have time to spare.
I had a complete full left knee replacement last Thursday, so I'm sore and resting at the moment. My table by the bed is littered with pc and music stuff.... But this is what I do...

So from one Style Pig to another..

You are not alone! 😂 😂

Keith

[BogdanH]

hi Keith.... You made me laugh loud and I thank you for that! 

Greetings,
Bogdan

..still laughing here 

[Divemaster]

I'm glad I've brought some joy into your day my friend. 

Keith

[ton37]

.......
But the one thing I won't do is throw anything out.
I have a saying "The part you throw out today will be the part you need tomorrow" and in my experience all us old guys were born with this basic survival tool.
So   based on that.... KEEP EVERYTHING!!
......

Keith

LOL, Fortunately, the style files do not take up much space. It's a different story if 'cars' were your collecting hobby. 

[overover]

Hi Charley,

I wouldn't "throw away" these old Yamaha Styles. Copy them to a USB stick, external hard drive or directly to your computer hard drive/SSD and use the PC (Windows) program "PSR Style Database":
>>> http://www.wierzba.homepage.t-online.de/psd/psdmain.htm




With this program, it is no problem to manage collections with hundreds of thousands of styles. The first reading will take relatively long (because an index text file is created from the program in each folder). However, later views are very quick.

With one click, you can filter after many different criteria, e.g. show duplicates and move or delete them if necessary, display faulty files, show the number of variations/fills, time signature, tempe, file size, OTS Yes/No, internal style name and much more.

Styles that are no longer needed (e.g. duplicates or incorrect styles) can be moved into a "trash" folder (that you created previously). Later you can finally delete them in Windows Explorer if necessary.


P.S.
As mentioned in other threads, this program can also be operated in MIDI File Mode. Here, too, it does a good job and, in my opinion, is indispensable. By the way, I used to have an external hard drive on which over 1.2 million (!) MIDI files were stored from the Internet: No problem for "PSR Midi Database" ...


Best regards,
Chris

[rattley]

Thanks for the replies.

Of course I won't physically throw these styles out but I am well aware they may be more trouble than they are worth. Working with many older Yamaha styles I find that the voices should be upgraded. (more or better OTS)  Usually the drums sound too perfect, like a machine gun.  I can "humanize and/or quantize to garage band it up a bit. I think these old styles can be at least cannibalized for their MIDI tracks. Some of us here have chatted about "Frankensteining" styles.  Sometimes I don't care how long it takes to do something if it's something I want. Plus....this plunge into style editing and creation needs me to spend the proper time learning it. Whatever Genos II brings to the table I want to be more prepared in doing the things I have always put off.

But watch and see.  If Genos II is anything like Genos I then I know I will spend endless hours just playing with the onboard stuff. My learning curve just fell off the earth!!   -charley

[EileenL]

I find that we only use a certain amount of styles for the songs we play. It is the same for the styles that come with the keyboard. We all have our favourite ones that we know we will use. Then occasionally we are asked to play a song that requires a certain type of style. This is where it is handy to have styles converted from different keyboards. I still find the Tecnics styles serve very well for this and also some of the Roland ones. These are the type of styles I will keep on my keyboard. I have had thousands in the past but realised the time I was wasting on them was time I could be playing and creating new registrations, Multi Pads and other things.

[Toril S]

I am with Keith. Keep everything! Besides, styles don't eat any food, and they don't need much space either. Audition some now and then, sometimes gens come out!

[rattley]

Hello

I did plan on going thru these in smaller chunks. Listening to hundreds of horrible styles is very grueling.  But then that one "gem" speaks out and it makes it all worthwhile. That was how my original gems collections came about so long ago. There is something special to me when I can "resurrect" a 20 year old style file that is only collecting dust. Some of these styles I found have been reworked several times and it is sometimes hard to find their source.  Some of these are premium "professional"  styles that were probably quite expensive during their original release. Regardless...... the midi tracks in the style, though dated,  should be fully intact as originally recorded and very editable. New effects and voice changes could be made to the accompaniment and melody OTS.  It's usually the drums that can date a style and make things sound like a cheap toy. Playing the Genos now I have gotten used to those revo drums. They sound so good!  The drums in these older styles also need to have their timing made not so perfect as they are now. I hate when the drum tracks sound like a machine gun, unless it's a bandorgan!!

A lot of the styles were already reworked by someone else.  I especially like those. A lot of the editing has already been done. Even though the editing was done by someone else their finished styles are usually better than the originals. I learn a lot like this, hearing different musical ideas. Choosing instruments and effects I may have never considered. As long as I am having fun I will enjoy this journey!!  -charley

[rattley]

Hello,

I installed PSR Style Database and it works great. As the name implies it is only for Yamaha styles.  My problem is I have lots of folders that aren't identified anywhere that I see. There is no reference as to what brand of keyboard these styles are for. Other brands besides Yamaha also use the .sty extension, but some have a different one.  Is there any easy way to sort out all the .sty files into their sources? Thanks.  -charley