Version 4.0 of the S-YXG50 should run on XP (according to the download site of Yamaha).

JM

Hello Guys,
Thanks guys for all the help. Im downloading the XG prgm righ now and also XG 3.0. By the way, Im running windows 98SE I, have XP pro but havent updated because I dont know if my system will handle it...

Thanks again,

MUsiKman

Hello Guys, I just found out about Styletraks built in to Cubase VST32. Do any of you guys have any experience with it. If so, can you please share it? Im wondering how, does it work in recognizing the chords. It seems to be a virtual arranger in some way, cause it can recognize your chords. Sort of like Jammer live... I hope I can get more info on this one. Im at work so I can t check it out. I never knew about this program...
WOW..

Thanks,
MusiKman

I do not. But I know two facts:

1) StyleTracks is kind of buggy in cubase 5.0

2) SX 1.0 does not have style tracks

There is a possibility that SX 2.0 might have it but that is a remote possibility

Thanks Frank,
I tried almost all of them. The one that really kind of took my eye was Jammer live. It did recognize my Chord changes etc. But I just couldnt configure it right.
Then I tried OMB and it also worked ok, but again, I couldnt get it to work fine either. For some reason, when the styles played back, the drums didnt sound right somehow. Even if I had my Korg I30 set to "LOCAL oFF".
The one that really sounded really awsome was Jammer PRO. IT really sounded pro all the way man. But, then I found out it doesnt recognize the chords.. So bummer that one brougth my spirits down.
RMCA didnt sound so pro like you mentioned. It also didnt sound quite right as well in the drums. EVen though I had it configured to GM sounds instead of XG. You see, IM using my Korg I30 to play back all the sounds.
Live styler, looked really promising, but I couldnt figure it out either. I dont know. But I just coulnt get it to detect my chord changes.
It looks pretty neat though.. Its probably something so simple, but since im trying to hard, maybe I dont see it.
Man, I need to just concentrate on one.
I havent tried BIB because its going to be pretty much useless for me.
I would really love to see more variations within a style.
You know, on my korg i30 I have say, two intros and two endings. Two FIlls and four variations.
What I really like about the variations is that as you go higher in the variations, the style becomes more punchy. It really helps built songs with spirit and punch that way. DO you know exactly how many variations one can have in total in livestyler?
Also, once I make a song in livestyler, I can save it as a SMF right? If yes, I then can use Cubase VST to edit more if I wish?

Thanks for your understanding and patience guys..

Peace,
MusIkman

MusiKMan, did you select GM mode in One Man Band? You might get strange drumsounds on your Korg in XG mode. It can also be that your Korg responds to a patch change in the drum channel even if it is not preceded by a bank select. I know the Audigy has a problem with that. It will be fixed in version 4.0.

JM

Musik,

Is it absolutely critical that you be able to control chord changes in real time ? See, when you said in the beginning that you were looking to create songs, I just figured programs like Jammer, BIAB, etc, might be the way to go for you. In these programs you enter the chord progressions ahead of time and it plays back. The chord structure can be quickly changed once you get the hang of it. If it is necessary though that you create chord changes "on the fly", then I would have to say ( at least for me ), that a real arranger is still more comfortable for me to work with than any software program. The disadvantage and one of the main reasons why I use Jammer Pro is that the style data of an arranger never changes ( unless of course I edit the style or make my own ). With "pro", styles can vary from measure to measure if you set them up that way. Even though BIAB uses prerecorded midi data, it too varies without changing variations because there are several different mini variations available within each style. I would like to see an arranger that does this. Still, if what I'm doing is writig songs, I don't need to be able to control the chord changes in real time.

As I said in my first reply to you, I have tried all 3 of the real time Yamaha based style programs and I don't use any of them. This isn't because they aren;t good programs ( they are ). The reason is that I find my arranger to be more user friendly if I need to change the chords " on the fly ".

Wanting to use a real arranger to control chord changes in real time kind of falls into the same territory for me as my desire to have knobs and real time controllers available to use when I play the synth. I can replicate and likely surpass the quality of sounds by using some of the modern day computer synthesizers / samplers, but... I lose a lot without the controller and knobs / sliders available on a synth to tweak and make adjustments "on the fly". I'm sure there are controllers out there that would allow me to prgram parameters to accomplish this, but would they be more comfortable to use than my synth / workstation ?

AJ

Thanks JM and BP for your help...
JoeMass, I do have it set up for GM. ITs weird because It looks pretty straight foward. I dont know, Ill will try it this weekend when Im more relaxed..
BP, I really want to learn how to do that. I want to learn how to be able to put the chords etc, but im not that good at song writing. You see, I basically know what chords im going to use in the song because of course im using my ear. I play mostly by ear. So when im making a song in arranger mode of my I30, I play the chords as the song is playing. Then in realtime I add the fill etc.. I have trouble knowing ahead of time how to calculate how many measures my song will have and exactly where to put the chords to match the measures. I hope im making some kind of sense, but I guess Im going to have to do some studying on how to do that. Either way, im going to try to do that somehow in Jammer pro this weekend. Im going to try a really simple song. Maybe thats how im going to get the hang of it.

Thanks for the help guys...

peace,
MusiKman

BluezPlayer

I agree that a software arranger is not much good on stage and I know that many in this forum do gigs. But there are also a lot that just play at home and have a PC in the same room.

If you are satisfied with the built-in styles in your arranger you don't need a software arranger. But what if you want to load external styles. It's no problem if you have a hard drive but an arranger keyboard with hard drive is not cheap. Are you really going to load diskettes until you found the right style? In OMB you can browse thru the styles on your PC using keys.

And what if you have your mind set on that fantastic new synth or workstation? Are you still going to use your old arranger keyboard when you have a synth with much better sounds and much better key action?

Almost everyone has a PC with at least 32 MB memory, 2 GB hard drive and 800 x 600 pixel display. Put this specifications on an arranger keyboard and you have a very expensive arranger keyboard. With a software arranger you can get this for a few bucks.

JM

JM, thats exactly how I feel. You hit it right on bulls eye. I have the Korg I30. Its an awsome arranger no doubt about it. But, lately, im really getting tired of having to load all kinds of styles via floppy, even though I have the Hard disk installed, it only holds 1 gig which is good enough, but I have to first load it via floppy no matter what. Why? because there is no other way to transfer styles back and forth to my Internal hard disk of the Korg i30.
So I kind of got desperate. And I wanted something else. Now, thats why I asked you guys for ideas and help.
JM, I think and now I know that you feel the exact same way like me. You see, I have a pretty decent pc. I think its powerful enough..Ok here are the specs:
1.4 gig Athlon, 512 megs ram, 40 gig hard disk and 17" monitor. thats about it. I dont have a soundcard except the one built in to the Motherboard, but it works just fine.
Now, My korg I30 I have it connected to the pc via "to Host" connection.
JM, is there a way, that you can program your program, so that it can use the keys of the PC keyboard to call up Intros, variation, fills, etc?
I kind of got really confused about using the actual synth keys for that.
I think both options would be awsome to have.
Also, is there a way that you can make it have more the just two variations. In other words, have the buttons assigned to have at least four variations. More would be awsome, as some songs, need more variations as the song develops, specially when the punch comes in. you know, sometimes towards the end or right before a guitar lead.....
I liked your program, I just couldnt get it to even recognize a single chord from my keyboard. I dont think my keyboard is the problem, I think i just havent configured the program right.
Ok, for example, this is how I have my keyboard configured.
I first go to clock settings. I select "TO host" Which is I guess both input and output of midi.
Now, then I go to midi filter settings and I select everything except Local on. I choose local off.
And thats it.
When I go home, IM going to write down exactly what filter settings i have checked or enabled.

ThNks guys.

MusiKman