Ooh, that looks very cool. It would have helped me out so much when I was writing the data extraction portion of my software, and may come in handy for things I have yet to finish.
I'll definitely be checking it out!

What are STY files? Is there any example I can download?

Thanks!

The .STY files that I know something about are connected with something like 'Band-in-a Box', and are Style files. A sort of template for specific musical styles of music like Soft Rock, Jazz, Folk or such like. Not sure if they contain midi data, but they could well. I've got quite a few from an old (very) version of BiaB, but could prob find some from a current version as well?

If they are relevant?

The BiaB website could well have some to download. Updates, or extra alt versions, or user created ones?

Update - checked the manual, and the STY files are referred to as 'Yamaha Style files' so they may be quite different to the ones I've got. Found some tucked away on my computer, 90-odd of them, and looked at the data in them. There is some data that might be note numbers, but no sign of complete midi data. The Yamaha variants may be more like normal midi data?

Geoff

It looks like there is no free stuff ay BiaB website...
Do any specs exist?

Files of type sty are styles (accompaniments) included on Yamaha keyboards. Some sites to get sty files:
http://www.psrtutorial.com/sty/index.html
http://ww.jososoft.dk/yamaha/yamaha.htm
http://kbd-infinity.com/accompaniment_machine.html

Are Yamaha STY files compatible with Band-in-a-Box?
Do any specs for the format exist?

Sema,

I've got some BiaB .STY files, and as I noted above, looking inside them they do NOT appear to be, in any way, midi files/data, although there could well be some note data there.

I've just downloaded some Yamaha .STY files, and these look like a sort of midi file (.SMF), there are MHdr and MTrk blocks there, and data that could well be midi data (mostly) but there is other data there as well that may not be normal midi, or midi at all?

So, the file formats are NOT compatible, even remotely so.

I have the manual for my BiaB, from back in 1991, and there is full info on using the process to create/amend/use the styles, I don't see any info regarding the format of a STY file. I assume that you MUST use the special software. I assume that the 'midi' type of STY within the newer/current versions of BiaB are similar.

There is a lot of info on the web regarding the Yamaha styles, and a lot of files you can download (usually as 'collections' comprising a number, usually substantial, of different style files. There also seems to be software to create/amend etc the files.

Note that Yamaha produces a range of 'Arranger' keyboards that can use the styles, and the files for different keyboards, and different levels of keyboards, may not be fully compatible, although it may not be a major task to cross modify. The bigger the difference between two keyboards, the more complex will be the changes required?

Geoff

Sema,

Just checked one of the STY files.

I ran it rhough the DECODE prog that I use, and this processed the file without complaint. Saw it as a SMF. Contents looked very much like a midi file, controllers, notes On/Off, multiple tracks, etc,

Bearing this in mind, I looked through the original STY file, and I see blocks, esp towards the end, that seem to have masses of strange looking SysEx data, so I suppose that the DECODE prog has merely treated this as SysEx of unknown purpose. There are also strange looking blocks of Meta Events - 'Sequencer Specific', which again DECODE would be able to handle without understanding.

JohnG should be the expert on Yamaha stuff?

Geoff

This will save you a lot of effort:
http://wierzba.homepage.t-online.de/stylefiles_v101.pdf

Wow! Thanks a lot!

I have been playing with the STY files for a while using the info above.
After downloading 5k+ files, I still don't see any that have a MHhd track.
Does anyone have a sample?