Did anyone answer Diki's question, as to whether it's possible to export and store Yamaha chord sequencer data? You can do this with Korg and Roland (although sadly IIRC, Roland's doesn't transpose, which greatly limits its usefulness.) A good question that merits an answer!

I think the difference between Yamaha’s XF sysex system and Roland is that Roland simply stores the actual notes. This way, you can still change from root chord to inversion in the style engine.

Looking at that XF metadata, all I see is root chords. Am I missing something?

One of my favorite tricks is to lay down the chords the first time using all inversions, but with root recognition on. So it all sounds straightforward. But you can turn on bass inversion recognition for one of the heads (if a jazz tune, for instance) you’ll get an alternate bass line and chords for some variety. You can even use a foot switch to change from root to inversion on the fly for even more variety...

Yes, Roland not updating the OS to have the CS follow local transposition was a right PITA, I love to shove the last chorus up a half step for a lift (as many songs do) but given they dropped the CS altogether for the VA and G/E series, I suppose it’s better than nothing... 🙄

I consider a CS a must have if you play in arranger mode at all, so Korg and Yamaha pinching the feature (and improving it) is fine with me! If my Roland goes tits up and I can’t find a replacement, at least I’m covered there. Now if only the file format had a translator!

Another, more "standard" approach to all this, is to record a block chord progression (in any desired inversion and rhythm) into a MIDI file. Then connect an outboard MIDI file player to drive the NTA, or even the "lower" voice. Bass inversion "off" or "on" for variety in real time. If the file player has "mark and jump" functionality, this would seem to be a pretty flexible setup. It's not exactly spontaneous. But ANY use of a C.S. means you're no longer 100% real-time. If you know that a song is part of your set, having a stored MIDI of the chord progression is no big deal. Great for practicing, and since many songs use similar chord progressions, it could be fun for jamming with a variety of styles and tempos.

To address your question about Yamaha's XF implementation... I don't think the list posted above by Tapas is complete. I'm pretty sure if you create a step recording using the CHD tab in Song Creator, you can specify slash chords. If you export from Song Creator before you "expand" it into a full MIDI, the sys-ex for the XF chords will be at the end of the file. Maybe someone here can take a look and see which byte specifies the bass note! Good discussion!!