Thanks for downloading PJ’s DJX-II patterns for Yamaha PSR/Tyros arranger workstations! (Download the ZIP file here.)
There are 15 DJX-II patterns in this collection. All of these DJ styles are on the jazz tip and are good for funkin’ around and jamming. These styles behave differently than standard arranger styles, so I recommend reading the background information below in order to get the most out of the patterns.
The parent directory of the collection is named “DJXII_for_PSR_v1”. If you’re reading this, you clearly have found the README.TXT file! There are two subdirectories:
- The “Patterns” subdirectory holds the STY files for the patterns.
- The “PDF” subdirectory contains basic lead sheets for the patterns. The lead sheets show chords and notation for the most important melodic and harmonic parts in each pattern.
Transfer and load the patterns in your arranger just like any other style file. Use your favorite PDF viewer to display the lead sheets.
If you can’t wait to get started and blow off the rest of this note, at least be aware that the patterns do not respond to chord changes like typical PSR/Tyros styles. The chord progressions are burned into the patterns. Just play a single key to change the root key. (Think of this as a taste of the new “DJ styles” in the PSR-S670!) Since we’re walking on the jazz side here, some of the progressions and chord voicings are complex — that’s why I included the lead sheets.
Have fun — P.J. Drongowski (http://sandsoftwaresound.net)
Yamaha DJX-II
Yamaha released the DJX-II way back in 2000. The DJX-II looks like an arranger, but it is a very different kind of instrument. The DJX-II uses patterns instead of styles to lay down a basic performance. Each pattern has ten variations: 6 MAIN variations and 4 FILL variations. The keyboard is divided into zones where each zone has a specific playback function. One of these zones selects and plays one of the ten pattern variations. This is how a musician changes pattern variations on the DJX-II.
The DJX-II has several non-standard drum kits taken from some ancient and obscure Yamaha keyboards. These drum kits do _not_ follow General MIDI (GM) or Yamaha XG conventions for instrument-to-note layout. The unconventional layout is a major barrier to porting and to reuse.
DJX-II pattern vs. PSR style format
The original DJX-II patterns are not in SFF or SFF GE format. Each original DJX-II pattern is stored in a standard MIDI file (SMF). Each pattern variation is tagged with a MIDI marker from “1” to “10”. I converted each DJX-II pattern file to a PSR/Tyros SFF1 standard MIDI file. I tried to map MAIN variations to MAIN sections and to map FILL variations to FILL sections. Thus, when you change MAIN sections on a PSR, the auto fill triggers an appropriate FILL variation. Since the DJX-II allowed six MAIN variations and the PSR supports only four MAIN sections, two MAIN variations are mapped to PSR INTRO sections. You can trigger an INTRO section during playback and the PSR plays the INTRO through once before returning to the previous MAIN section.
The DJX-II has many of the basic voices in an entry model PSR arranger. Often, the original DJX-II voices are retained after conversion. The main exception are synthesizer voices and drum kits. I tried to map synthesizer voices and drum kits to reasonable alternatives.
Translating the drum parts was the most time- and labor-intensive part of the conversion process. I tried to map drum instruments appropriately (e.g., bass drum to bass drum). However, some drum tracks are insanely busy and your mileage will vary (YMMV). I almost lost my mind converting drum parts…
The DJX-II has a different track and MIDI channel layout:
Channel DJX-II Role PSR Role
------- ----------- --------
9 Kick Rhythm1
10 Snare Rhythm2
11 Hi-hat Bass
12 Percussion Chord1
13 Bass Chord2
14 Phrase1 Pad
15 Phrase2 Phrase1
16 Phrase3 Phrase2
The track roles are different when compared to the PSR/Tyros roles. Four MIDI channels (9 through 12) are assigned to drum/percussion. PSR/Tyros has only two rhythm channels (9 and 10). The DJX-II assigns the bass to channel 13 instead of channel 11. The DJX-II has only three channels (14 through 16) assigned to melodic or chord phrases. The converted styles preserve the original DJX-II channel/track layout. Therefore, you can adjust or mute the kick, snare and high hat parts individually when playing. Please keep in mind that the actual DJX-II roles do not match the button labels on the front panel!
If you want to know more about the conversion process and its considerations, please see:
Simplicity has virtues (compatibility)
These DJ styles play on a wide range of Yamaha arrangers including the entry level PSR-E4xx series and many older model keyboards. I tried to keep the converted patterns as short and as simple as possible. The style format is SFF1, making the files compatible with the PSR-E4xx series and pre-SFF GE arrangers. I also did not add OTS to the files to reduce their size. Style size is a real issue on models with limited memory.
These DJ styles were tested on both the PSR-S950 and the PSR-E443. They should play just fine on Tyros 3/4/5, PSR-S750, and PSR-S650.
Arrangers with only two MAIN sections
The entry level Yamaha arrangers support only two main sections: MAIN A and MAIN B. These arrangers play the DJX-II patterns associated with MAIN A, MAIN B, FILL AA and FILL BB. INTRO A is a four beat count off. INTRO B is the DJX-II pattern programmed for INTRO B.
The DJ styles in this collection have MIDI data for all four MAIN sections, FILLs, etc. Clearly, you’re missing out unless you become familiar with some of the really great computer-based tools out there!
Jørgen Sørensen has written many terrific tools for PSR/Tyros arrangers. For example, I used CASM editor, Style Split and Splice, and Style Fixer while converting the DJX-II patterns. If you want to get more out of this style collection, I recommend his Style Revoicer and Style ReMixer tools.
- Style Revoicer lets you assign a different voice to a style part.
- Style ReMixer lets you create a new style by picking and choosing sections from an existing style file.
Style ReMixer gives you access to the other MAIN and FILL sections in the DJ style files. Here is a link to Jørgen’s Web site:
I also recommend the tools written by Michael Bedesem. Michael’s MidiPlayer and MixMaster tools let you make detailed edits in style and MIDI files. Here is a link to Michael’s tools via the PSR Tutorial Web site:
Of course, you may edit the DJ style files using a DAW such as SONAR or Cubase. Please be aware that DAWs remove style-specific data sections such as the CASM section. You will need Jørgen’s Style Split and Splice to work around this problem. First, split the DJ style file into a MIDI part and a non-MIDI part. Edit the MIDI part with the DAW. Then, splice the new MIDI part with the non-MIDI part to produce a complete style file.
Patterns are not just for arrangers
You can make use of the converted DJX-II files even if you do not have a Yamaha arranger. Yamaha style format files are standard MIDI files with extra data sections. First, rename the file that you want to use by changing the “STY” extension to “MID”. Then, import the file into a DAW. You can edit the MIDI data even though the DAW discards the extra data sections. The extra data sections are meaningless to the DAW.
At this point, it’s all regular MIDI, so the DAW can play back the patterns from start to finish. (This is a good way to audition all of the patterns, by the way.) The bank select and program change data choose Yamaha arranger voices, so you will need to edit this information for your synthesizer or virtual instrument.
If your DAW supports MIDI markers (and it should!), the start of each pattern section is indicated with a marker like “MAIN A”, “FILL AA”, etc.
Happy mangling and mashing!
Original keys and BPM
The DJX-II patterns are in different native keys/scales and tempi as noted in the following table. This is another significant variation from conventional arranger style format, BTW. The PDF lead sheets are produced directly from the patterns and reflect the native keys/scales. Therefore, if you want to jam to “53_Soul” and use its lead sheet, trigger the pattern by playing “F” in the lower part of your arranger’s keyboard (i.e., the Auto Accompaniment range of keys). The lead sheet and playback will match.
Pattern I chord BPM ----------- ------- --- 53_Soul Fm9 92 57_Cool Em7 82 58_Jamn F#m7 88 59_ClubFunk Dm7 95 60_HardFunk A7(#9) 94 34_JazzD&B Cm7 158 38_RockHop Em7 84 43_Miami Am7(9) 85 44_Jazzy Bbm7 75 45_LosAngeles Cm7(9) 99 48_Bangin Am7(11) 83 49_Smooth C#m9 83 50_Light Fm9 90 51_R&B EMaj7 83 52_Female Dm9 92
Chord progressions
DJX II patterns have the chord progressions cooked into the MIDI. The patterns follow the root key triggered in the left hand accompaniment part of the keyboard.
Pattern Typical loops
------------- ----------------------------------------------------
53_Soul |: Fm9 | Fsus4 :|
57_Cool |: Em7 :|
|: Em Em7(11) :|
|: Em | Em G1+2+5 :|
|: Am G1+2+5 | Em :|
58_Jamn |: Bm E | F#m7 :|
|: F#5(no 3) :|
59_ClubFunk |: Dm7(11) F5 | Dm7(11) G5 :|
|: Dm | BbM7 Am :|
60_HardFunk |: A7(#9) :|
|: A7(#9) | D5+7 :|
34_JazzD&B |: Cm7(11) :|
|: Cm7(11) | Am7(11) | Fm7(11) | Dm7(11) :|
|: Cm7(9) | F7(9) | Cm7(9) | F7(9) :|
|: Gbm/C Cm7(11) | | | :|
38_RockHop |: E5 | D5 A5 :|
|: Em | G5 Asus4 :|
|: E5 G5 | D5 A5 :|
|: Em D/E | Em D/E | Em D/E | G5 A5 :|
43_Miami |: Am7(9) | Am6 :|
|: Am7 Am6 | Am7 Bdim7 :|
44_Jazzy |: Bbm7/Bbsus4 :|
|: Eb1+5 :|
45_LosAngeles |: Cm7(9) | Gm7 :|
|: Fm7 EbM7 | EbM7 :|
|: D7sus4 :|
48_Bangin |: Am7(11) :|
|: Dm7 :|
49_Smooth |: C#m9 F#add9 | AM9 :|
|: C#m7 D#m7 | EM7 :|
50_Light |: Fm9 | DbM7/Eb :|
|: Fm9 | AbM7 Ab/C :|
|: EbM7/F | | | DbM7 Cm11 :|
51_R&B |: EM7 | CM7 | GM7 | CM7 B7sus4 :|
|: Am7 | FM7 | Am7 | CM7 B7sus4 :|
|: EM7(9) | DM7/E | EM7(9) | CM7 B7sus4 :|
|: EM7(9) | DM7/E | CM7/D | CM7 B7sus4 :|
52_Female |: Dm9 | Dm9 Bbm/G :|
Many of the loops play over one chord or alternate between two chords. The I chords suggested above are the original source chord for the loop.
DJ patterns do NOT follow the chord type like an arranger style. They only follow the root note.
Copyright © 2015 Paul J. Drongowski