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Hello, thanks for this nice group.
Just purchased not one but TWO :) cute QY-70 units.
Why two, well the first one was basically mint; then a very beaten up
one, with an unresponsive keyboard and an exhausted backup battery,
showed up for a low price and I snatched it up "for spares".
I repaired it and now works like a charm. Decided to keep both. :)
Now the question(s). :D
I did read and re-read the manual and also the FAQs by Johannes
Emmerling... but I can't actually figure out how to compose sequences
on this machine. I was able to record simple multitrack phrases (up to
8 bars) but that's it.
Let's say I enter Pattern mode, select an empty User pattern (Style?),
select a Section (say "Main A") and record a few bars in Overdub or
Step for Drum and Bass, on two tracks.
Then I pass on to "Main B" and record another few bars, with a
different theme. Say I leave empty everything else.
Now: how do I combine those two Drum + Bass "sections" I recorded, in
order to have a complete sequence?
Say I want "MainA - MainB" in a loop.
How do I accomplish this?
Should I select Song mode and somehow (how?) "copy/paste" those
pattern sections inside the Song?
Or is there some other way, maybe using Pattern Jobs..?
I did not understand what to do. Sorry, I know it must be trivial but
I'm a noob with this cute box! The manual is so skinny for such a
complex device, and being 20+ years old means not much tutorials to be
found.
Thanks for reading.
Fernando
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Hi,
Welcome to the group!
In order to do what you want you need to basically just do the following:
1) Record to your pattern sections (you did this already) 2) Note which user pattern number you recorded to (let’s assume pattern #1) 3) Switch to song mode and select the song in which you want to use the ?pattern. 4) Move the cursor to the Pattern area (in the lower left) and hit + or - to select your user pattern “USR1” 5) Move the cursor to the pattern track (which is to the left of all the track numbers…denoted as “PT”) 6) Press Menu 7) Press the Function key corresponding to “Edit’ 8) On the screen you will see a grid that allows you to insert patterns (and sections) at any given measure of the song. 9) In this particular case you would?select USR1 in the pattern column (by moving to that column and hitting +/-) and then move over to the right and select MainA in the Section column. 10) Use the cursor to scroll down to several measures (whatever the length of the main a section is plus one). 11) Select??USR1 in the pattern column and MainB ?the Section column for that measure. 12) Hit Exit to go back to the main song screen 13) Press Play.
Some tips: By the way, whatever the last measure is of your song you want to insert OFF ?into the grid so that the song will end… I think it’s gonna magically if you insert the section ‘ENDING’.
Also note that F1 allows you to erase an entry.
If you don’t set up a pattern track then you can just move the cursor to the pattern area and press any of the section keys on the keyboard to switch pattern sections… Provided that you selected your pattern number already.
You want to limit your song to a use a single pattern… Apparently switching patterns will cause a slight delay in playback… However you can switch between sections of a given single pattern without any delay whatsoever. ?
Lastly, When creating a section in pattern mode it’s important to realize that you have to set the length first because once you record or insert anything the length is locked for that section and cannot be changed unless you delete that section.
Hope this helps !, Eric
["The longest journey starts with the first step."?- Lao Tzu]
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On Oct 13, 2022, at 7:26 PM, Fernando Carello <fcarello@...> wrote:
?Hello, thanks for this nice group.
Just purchased not one but TWO :) cute QY-70 units.
Why two, well the first one was basically mint; then a very beaten up
one, with an unresponsive keyboard and an exhausted backup battery,
showed up for a low price and I snatched it up "for spares".
I repaired it and now works like a charm. Decided to keep both. :)
Now the question(s). :D
I did read and re-read the manual and also the FAQs by Johannes
Emmerling... but I can't actually figure out how to compose sequences
on this machine. I was able to record simple multitrack phrases (up to
8 bars) but that's it.
Let's say I enter Pattern mode, select an empty User pattern (Style?),
select a Section (say "Main A") and record a few bars in Overdub or
Step for Drum and Bass, on two tracks.
Then I pass on to "Main B" and record another few bars, with a
different theme. Say I leave empty everything else.
Now: how do I combine those two Drum + Bass "sections" I recorded, in
order to have a complete sequence?
Say I want "MainA - MainB" in a loop.
How do I accomplish this?
Should I select Song mode and somehow (how?) "copy/paste" those
pattern sections inside the Song?
Or is there some other way, maybe using Pattern Jobs..?
I did not understand what to do. Sorry, I know it must be trivial but
I'm a noob with this cute box! The manual is so skinny for such a
complex device, and being 20+ years old means not much tutorials to be
found.
Thanks for reading.
Fernando
--
“The longest journey starts with the first step." ?- Lao Tzu
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Yes you have to create a song and program in which patterns to use.
And which chords to use for those patterns.
This video shows you how to create a song using the patterns you just created.
It is for the QY100 but the process is the same
And pattern mode -
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Yes, as explained, the 'Pt' track of a song is where you chain patterns. Use the arrow keys to select the 'Pt' track all the way to the left of the numbered tracks on the main 'Song' screen. Then press 'Menu' and use 'F3' to select 'Edit'.
As Eric mentioned, there can be stutters when a song switches between user styles. This is caused by the time required to reinitialize voice parameters and the third effect algorithm (which will be set by the style when styles are used).
Even if you stay within the same style, re-specifying the style when changing sections on the 'Pt' edit screen can still cause hiccups.
To avoid this, leave the 'Style' block of subsequent section changes blank. The QY will know to remain in the previous style and won't attempt to load or reset it.
So, if you wanted to chain 'U01' 'MainA' into 'U01' 'MainB', don't enter anything into the 'Style' block of the 'Pt' track when inserting 'MainB', like below:
STYLE SECTION
U01 MainA
MainB
129 --End--
Also, note that you can also change the meter on the 'Pt' edit screen. The meter doesn't have to match the style's embedded meter, but it will be cut off if it's short on bars.
You can loop in song mode by holding shift and pressing play. But there's an unavoidable hiccup each time the loop resets.
To get a looping effect in song mode while avoiding the hiccup, just enter the sequence of patterns into a song, then use the copy job on the 'Pt' track to repeat those measures a bunch of times. Songs can have 999 measures, so it's rare for it to stop because it's reached the end.
J
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Hello, first of all thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated.
I have read all your answers and am trying to study Song Mode, which I neglected to far.
Another question arises to my mind: when I enter a pattern into a song, I cannot specify the track where to insert my user-phrase (or anyway, I did not find how to specify a track).
Does it mean that the pattern I insert must already have all the tracks already properly filled?
Say I have recorded a nice drum base on Pattern #2 MainA (track 1), let's say it's called U02, and I have a bass riff which I like in Pattern #1 Main B (track 3), say U01.
In my song, I would like to combine the drum from Pattern #2 MainA and the bass from Pattern #1 MainB.
So that would mean entering U02 in track 1 and, in the same bar, U01 in track 3.
Would it be possible?
Or should I create an appropriate Pattern #3 Main A which has both U02 on 1 and U01 on 3, beforehand?
Thanks for clarifying, your help has been invaluable already!
Fernando
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Hi Fernando,
It is not possible to mix elements from different styles, unless you create a new style. Same goes for patterns: You will always work with the 8 tracks of the pattern, and cannot mix another pattern track unless you create a new pattern that does so. So you are right in thinking in mixing the elements in a new pattern.
The QY series came before Ableton, and the styles/patterns are not designed to work as a clip launcher, but as a backing track. the QY100 (don’t know if the QY70 does too) allows you to change styles, change patterns and mute tracks from via SysEx, and that makes it more flexible, however, the delay occurring when changing styles might be too noticeable. ?
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On Oct 14, 2022, at 3:16 PM, xfer012 via < fcarello@...> wrote:
Hello, first of all thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated.
I have read all your answers and am trying to study Song Mode, which I neglected to far.
Another question arises to my mind: when I enter a pattern into a song, I cannot specify the track where to insert my user-phrase (or anyway, I did not find how to specify a track).
Does it mean that the pattern I insert must already have all the tracks already properly filled?
Say I have recorded a nice drum base on Pattern #2 MainA (track 1), let's say it's called U02, and I have a bass riff which I like in Pattern #1 Main B (track 3), say U01.
In my song, I would like to combine the drum from Pattern #2 MainA and the bass from Pattern #1 MainB.
So that would mean entering U02 in track 1 and, in the same bar, U01 in track 3.
Would it be possible?
Or should I create an appropriate Pattern #3 Main A which has both U02 on 1 and U01 on 3, beforehand?
Thanks for clarifying, your help has been invaluable already!
Fernando
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Thank you, I am adapting to the QY-70 day after day and I like what I am seeing.
This little cute machine is very powerful indeed.
I found how to play drum & bass with the internal engine, while leaving other tracks to my external MIDI synths. Works flawlessy, and the resulting mix sounds very nice: the XG chip is not bad at all despite being 25+ years old.
Why don't they build these anymore? Escapes me.
Installed the Data Filer and to my wonder it still works perfectly under Windows 10 64bit. So I can easily backup everything, export songs etc.
Thanks everyone!
Fernando
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Hi,
As Kaltar noted, switching styles causes a delay, so since you want to stay in the same pattern, you could use one of the fill sections for the combo ?of drums and guitar. ?However, you could also put drum and fill both in MainA and then simply use a sysex to mute whatever track you don’t want at the appropriate time (using either a mute sysex or a volume sysex for the given pattern track). ?
BTW, the track numbers for the 8 pattern tracks are 17 to 24 (since 1-16 are taken by song mode), however you can map patterns to tracks 1 to 8 or 9 to 16 in the utility section of the menu… but if you are muting via Sysex or the QY you should just use tracks 17 to 24 to keep the first 16 for song tracks. ?(The reason for the remapping capability is that alot of midi equipment can’t deal with track numbers greater than 16, but since everything you are doing in on the QY, you should be fine).
Cheers, Eric ["The longest journey starts with the first step."?- Lao Tzu]
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On Oct 17, 2022, at 3:31 PM, xfer012 via groups.io <fcarello@...> wrote:
?Hello, first of all thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated.
I have read all your answers and am trying to study Song Mode, which I neglected to far.
Another question arises to my mind: when I enter a pattern into a song, I cannot specify the track where to insert my user-phrase (or anyway, I did not find how to specify a track).
Does it mean that the pattern I insert must already have all the tracks already properly filled?
Say I have recorded a nice drum base on Pattern #2 MainA (track 1), let's say it's called U02, and I have a bass riff which I like in Pattern #1 Main B (track 3), say U01.
In my song, I would like to combine the drum from Pattern #2 MainA and the bass from Pattern #1 MainB.
So that would mean entering U02 in track 1 and, in the same bar, U01 in track 3.
Would it be possible?
Or should I create an appropriate Pattern #3 Main A which has both U02 on 1 and U01 on 3, beforehand?
Thanks for clarifying, your help has been invaluable already!
Fernando
--
“The longest journey starts with the first step." ?- Lao Tzu
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A word of caution, I would definitely test the restore of your songs before assuming the backup worked perfectly. ?
I have occasionally had a song backup with no errors, but then the restore failed (using filer on the QY). ?Never a bad idea to export to a simple midi file (as well as a backup) just in case, so at least you have something should the restore fail. ?The QY100 is nice since it has the smartmedia save option (as well as it’s own filer) to give the user a little more peace of mind, although of course, the QY70 is the more compact package so it has it’s own charms (I own both since they both rock in different ways).?
Cheers,
Eric
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“The longest journey starts with the first step." ?- Lao Tzu
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since everything you are doing in on the QY, you should be fine). Well, actually I use the QY-70 as an hardware sequencer for my synths and as a drum+bass machine at the same time. I put drum on D1 and bass on BA and play them with the internal engine. Then on C1 and C2 I compose the lines for the two external synths, first using internal sounds and then, when finished, silencing the internal sounds on both tracks via the playback mixer (vol = 0) to let the MIDI-connected external synths play them. At first the external synths did not play, then studying the manual I found the mapping setting you mention. Very versatile. So nice! Fernando
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A word of caution, I would definitely test the restore of your songs before assuming the backup worked perfectly. I always do a double backup: full dump + individual conversion to SMF of all the songs. Multiple backups are an old habit of mine. I am also thinking about a DIY box to read MIDI events and storing them to micrSD, a bit like the old Yamaha MDF, just in case. The QY100 is nice since it has the smartmedia save option (as well as it’s own filer) The QY100 is another very nice box. I always keep an eye for it on the local online 2nd hand lists. The card reader is nice to have and the audio input too: I could plug in one of the synths, so no need for the small mixer I have to use now.
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Hi Fernando...
I am really interested to hear that you are using the data filer under Windows 10.
- May I ask how you have your QY70 connected to the PC?
- Also, did you install it from one of the files here in the group's FILES section?
I have a QY100 and am interested in using the data filer to save and organize my songs.
I work mostly on a Mac so I'd prefer to use a Mac version of the data filer but the version I have will not install under Monterey. A working?PC version would be great..
Thanks, Rocky
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Hello Rocky, I installed the QY-70 Data Filer from the .rar in the Files section, yes: /g/YamahaQY70AndQY100/files/QY70%20DataFiler%20Software/QY70%20DataFiler%20Setup.rarTo my surprise, it worked immediately, without having to set Compatibility Mode, Admin rights or whatever. Just worked straight away, which is not common for a software its age. The QY-70 is connected to my PC via a MIDI cable (I have an USB-to-MIDI interface). Both MIDI-OUT (to PC MIDI-IN) and MIDI-IN (to PC MIDI-OUT) have to be connected for the Data Filer to work, and the Host Select switch on the right side of the QY-70 has to be on "MIDI" (or at least, it works for me this way). Finally, the MIDI Sync has to be set to Internal in the appropriate QY-70 settings menu (Menu->Utility>MIDI). Best, Fernando
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A word of caution: it is important to find a good USB-to-MIDI interface.
Stories on the net say some cheap ones have too little an internal buffer, so while they work for common MIDI duties, they may fail when transferring some SysEx chunks.
I don't know if this is still a problem nowadays, maybe it's a thing of the past, but just in case: mine is this one and this seems to be appropriate too https://www.amazon.com/iConnectivity-mio-1-out-MIDI-Interface/dp/B00CO5IRSG
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Thanks for all the details Fernando.
I'll try the QY100 Data Filer download from the FILES sections and see how it goes. Hopefully it'll be as trouble-free as your QY70 experience.
I have a couple of MIDI interface options so I'm optimistic about that.
I had originally assumed that the Data Filer only connected via a serial port (which would be problematic these days) but happy to hear it can use a MIDI connection.
Thanks again.
Rocky
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Hi Fernando, thanks to you I now have the QY100 Data Filer working on my PC.
It installed from the installer on this site just fine...?
I also installed the MIDI drivers in that folder, but I don't think they are necessary as I ended up choosing the USB MIDI port in the setup window anyway.
My regular USB MIDI cable was able to receive data from the QY100 but unable to successfully transmit, so I tried my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 with 'proper' MIDI cables and it all worked just fine in both directions.
I verified that the save and load were working as expected.
Thanks again Fernando..
Rocky
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That was my fear as well (I even researched for DIYing the serial cable), but happy to confirm it works with regular MIDI.
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Happy to hear you succeeded!
Cheers,
Fernando
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For reference, Roland and ESI have reliable USB to MIDI cables.
I got tired of all the issues with cheapie $10 ones, so bought the ESI and have been very happy with it:
It has the additional benefit of automatically sensing if either of the two plugs is being used as an input or output, and automatically toggling between the behaviors.
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the XG chip is not bad at all despite being 25+ years old
Yes, the chip is a full implementation of Yamaha's mid-nineties version of MIDI XG.
It can handle sound layering, splits, and velocity layering. In addition to the amp envelope and filter, each voice has a pitch envelope under the hood, and the LFO can be set to modulate filter, amp, or pitch.
If you dig deeper, each note of a custom drum kit has individual filter, amp, and send parameters, including a second delay parameter you can only access with Sysex.
Sound On Sound has a great three-part series on using XG tone generators for sound design:
With all of this functionality, you can create additive synthesizer patches, various subtractive permutations including transwave emulations, and a bunch more. There's even a way to make it into a step sequencer with per-step, realtime adjustable pitch/volume/pan/sends (described in the article). And if you get familiar with the voices, some of them let you control filter envelopes.
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Eric