Can you use Roland styles on PC?

[Alfisti164]

I have some old styles that I used and made before on my Roland keyboards. Now I am using Cubase 5 and a midi-keyboard.
Is there software that allows me to use Roland styles over MIDI?
There is a lot for Yamaha (.sty files) but I can't find anything for Roland (.stl files).

Already thanks for the answers!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

There are a few programs that let you convert one company's style format to another's, and some of those might include the ability to play the style to an external device in order to "audition" the style, but I have no familiarity with those programs.

Regardless of the specific format that a given company uses, a style file is usually made up of two portions-- a MIDI portion that contains the Note On/Off and other MIDI messages for the style, and a non-MIDI portion that contains additional information in a proprietary format for how the style is supposed to respond when you play different musical keys and chord types.

Sometimes it's possible to simply rename the file extension on the style file to ".MID" and then load the file into your DAW. If this works, it will import the MIDI portion of the file into one or more MIDI tracks, but will ignore the non-MIDI portion that it doesn't understand.

Note that the MIDI portion which does get imported will most likely be for all of the style sections at once, one after the other, usually with a text marker at the beginning of each section to indicate which style section the following MIDI data is for.

Also, the MIDI data will usually be in a specific musical key and chord type, subject to however the given company does things. For example, I know that Yamaha styles are usually written for a C Major 7 chord type, and then the keyboard transposes the chords and phrases of the style to whichever musical key and chord type is being played on the keyboard; but I don't know how Roland does things.

Consequently, you might be able to load one of your Roland style files into your DAW so you can work with the MIDI data in your projects. The way I would probably do it would be to (1) import the file, (2) chop out everything except a specific style section as indicated by the embedded text markers, (3) transpose the MIDI Notes of that section to a specific musical key and chord type, and (4) save that section as a MIDI clip. I would then repeat this process as many times as necessary or desired, until I had a collection of MIDI clips for that style, where each clip corresponded to a specific section of the style being played in a specific musical key and chord type. It would be a bit of work, but the end result would be a collection of MIDI clips that could be imported into your projects as desired, either for one-off playing (such as an introductory passage or ending passage) or for being played in a loop.

Note that since the style file would be programmed to use specific voices or tones or presets-- whatever term the keyboard manufacturer uses to describe the various timbres which are available on its keyboards-- whereas you would presumably be using the DAW's own virtual instruments and plug-in instruments to play the style data, you would want to edit each of these MIDI clips as needed to select whichever presets from whichever virtual instruments you want to use for playing on the various channels within the clips.

 

[Biggles]

You could always consider adding Arranger Software to you Computer

Soft Arranger – Professional software midi arranger for PC and Mac

softarranger.com

ChordPulse - Practice. Improvise. Compose.

 

[Alfisti164]

Thanks for the replies guys! I looked at the software and now know what I'm looking for!
If I read Micheal's story I have lots of work to do to get my old styles up to date again The more fun it will be ones i play with them again.

You'll read the progress right here!

 

[Music Bird]

I can’t wait to hear your styles!
I’d like to recommend Sofeh Music Studio. It has a different sound set, but one of the YouTubers I watch gets good styles like pop, Indonesian styles, Latin styles, electronic styles, and Indian styles out of it.
It has the Korg sound set, but it sounds very good!

 

[karri]

I recently put a GOTEK drive in my Roland E96 and started to look into the format of the style files. These STL files turned out to be fairly trivial. Basically there is 3 different chord sequences M, m and 7. The length of each sequence can vary. Then there is four variations: Basic original, Basic variation, Advanced original, Advanced variation. You also have 4 fill ins like Fill to original and Fille to variation. In two modes Basic and Advanced. The last two parts are intro and ending.

So I wrote a Python script for analysing the styles. The notes in these styles have a starting time in bar/beat/cnt notation and a duration. Plus the pitch of the note. There is also volume variations. It somebody is interested I can send you a copy of my code. The early Roland styles did not have any audio samples. It is very much like MIDI.

The easiest way is to just play C major, C minor, C7 and record a sequence of intro, original fill to variation, variation, fill to original, ending. Both in basic an advanced. Then import the song to MuseScore. It shows up nicely with every instrument on its own section.

 

[Keyman69]

Here is another software arranger that I have used:

One Man Band - Virtual arranger keyboard and style editor

It accepts various arranger styles, allows for editing, will let you enter a midi file and parse it into arranger parts. It might be of use.

 

[Picky-Picasso]

I recently put a GOTEK drive in my Roland E96 and started to look into the format of the style files. These STL files turned out to be fairly trivial. Basically there is 3 different chord sequences M, m and 7. The length of each sequence can vary. Then there is four variations: Basic original, Basic variation, Advanced original, Advanced variation. You also have 4 fill ins like Fill to original and Fille to variation. In two modes Basic and Advanced. The last two parts are intro and ending.

So I wrote a Python script for analysing the styles. The notes in these styles have a starting time in bar/beat/cnt notation and a duration. Plus the pitch of the note. There is also volume variations. It somebody is interested I can send you a copy of my code. The early Roland styles did not have any audio samples. It is very much like MIDI.

The easiest way is to just play C major, C minor, C7 and record a sequence of intro, original fill to variation, variation, fill to original, ending. Both in basic an advanced. Then import the song to MuseScore. It shows up nicely with every instrument on its own section.

Amazing, Karri!!

That is definitely above the 'pay-grade' for most of us humble players, so THANKS for the work!!

 

[karri]

Amazing, Karri!!

That is definitely above the 'pay-grade' for most of us humble players, so THANKS for the work!!

I hope to document my own styles in some sensible, machine readable format. One nice way would be MuseScore with rehearsal marks. You could create 6 small note clips for every tune. One clip could be named "Major, basic". It would contain rehearsal marks "Intro", "A", "Fill to B", "B", "Fill to A", "Ending". You could then concatenate the style to contain modes "Major, basic", "Major advanced", "Minor basic", "Minor advanced", "7th basic" and "7th advanced".

Once this work is done you could edit the score and change it. And finally export it to a new STL file. Much faster and less error prone than using the micro editor in Roland E96.

 

[happyrat1]

I hope to document my own styles in some sensible, machine readable format. One nice way would be MuseScore with rehearsal marks. You could create 6 small note clips for every tune. One clip could be named "Major, basic". It would contain rehearsal marks "Intro", "A", "Fill to B", "B", "Fill to A", "Ending". You could then concatenate the style to contain modes "Major, basic", "Major advanced", "Minor basic", "Minor advanced", "7th basic" and "7th advanced".

Once this work is done you could edit the score and change it. And finally export it to a new STL file. Much faster and less error prone than using the micro editor in Roland E96.

You sound like a good guy to have around. I wonder if you've done a lot of work with Linux and Open Source Software?

The community always needs good MIDI programmers with musical training. I've taken a few stabs at it myself in the past but my broken old brain can't wrap itself around the new fangled programming styles.

Stick around. You might see what the captive audience of musicians wants in a piece of software these days.

Gary

 

[Alfisti164]

I recently put a GOTEK drive in my Roland E96 and started to look into the format of the style files. These STL files turned out to be fairly trivial. Basically there is 3 different chord sequences M, m and 7. The length of each sequence can vary. Then there is four variations: Basic original, Basic variation, Advanced original, Advanced variation. You also have 4 fill ins like Fill to original and Fille to variation. In two modes Basic and Advanced. The last two parts are intro and ending.

So I wrote a Python script for analysing the styles. The notes in these styles have a starting time in bar/beat/cnt notation and a duration. Plus the pitch of the note. There is also volume variations. It somebody is interested I can send you a copy of my code. The early Roland styles did not have any audio samples. It is very much like MIDI.

The easiest way is to just play C major, C minor, C7 and record a sequence of intro, original fill to variation, variation, fill to original, ending. Both in basic an advanced. Then import the song to MuseScore. It shows up nicely with every instrument on its own section.

Wow, karri, this is great information! It sound right, sinds my G-800 had all of these 'variations' build in, so it should be in the file too. I will definitly take a look at MuseScore, and Sofeh Music Studio too. It seems that there is a lot out there. Alldough I did not find these two on Google! Thanks for the tips!
One Man Band is ready to be tested...

First I have to convert the styles to midi... I think that's a good start!

Thanks all!

 

[dan]

The vArranger software can play Yamaha, Roland, Ketron, Korg and Technics styles

 

[jemsoo7]

A bit costly, but the best i have tried i think for converting styles is EMC which offers many tools like style works; Style Factory; Convert from BiAB, etc. It has a tools to construct a style from scratch using its own database of elements (bass, guitar, etc)...

STRATO - Domain not available

 

[Alfisti164]

Let me blow off the dust of this threat...
Thanks for the replies!

To keep it cheap I was trying to be smart and bought me a Roland E66 for a very low price.
I thought, now I can use the .STL files and record them as MIDI on the computer.
Well, it backfired, maybe...
Not all styles work on the E66... actually, very little styles work: from the 100s I have, only 4 or so work.

Now I'm wondering if the keyboard is okay.
Or are the G800 styles different then the E's? (Is there anyone who knows more about this?)
Or are the floppy disks I'm using old... they seem to work fine!

Back to the drawing board, and look at all your reactions again. I'm looking for a cheap solution.

Thanks again,
- Martijn

 

[Keyman69]

Let me blow off the dust of this threat...
Thanks for the replies!

To keep it cheap I was trying to be smart and bought me a Roland E66 for a very low price.
I thought, now I can use the .STL files and record them as MIDI on the computer.
Well, it backfired, maybe...
Not all styles work on the E66... actually, very little styles work: from the 100s I have, only 4 or so work.

Now I'm wondering if the keyboard is okay.
Or are the G800 styles different then the E's? (Is there anyone who knows more about this?)
Or are the floppy disks I'm using old... they seem to work fine!

Back to the drawing board, and look at all your reactions again. I'm looking for a cheap solution.

Thanks again,
- Martijn

Did you evaluate One Man Band for the PC? It is not expensive and I use it instead of an arranger keyboard. I would be happy to see if some of the styles you have issues with will work with One Man Band.

 

[mris]

Hi Martijn
Just a quick comparison between the two manuals
The floppy disks for the E66 must be formated WITH the E66.
The G800 can read E66 styles.
Quote : " styles aangemaakt op apparaten met groter geheugen kunnen NIET ALTIID geladen worden in de E66."
The user style in the G800 would have similarities to the one in the E66 (you can try this)
( ex: MSE styles not in older models.
Maybe this can help
Stay save
mris

 

[arimitrachak]

I recently put a GOTEK drive in my Roland E96 and started to look into the format of the style files. These STL files turned out to be fairly trivial. Basically there is 3 different chord sequences M, m and 7. The length of each sequence can vary. Then there is four variations: Basic original, Basic variation, Advanced original, Advanced variation. You also have 4 fill ins like Fill to original and Fille to variation. In two modes Basic and Advanced. The last two parts are intro and ending.

So I wrote a Python script for analysing the styles. The notes in these styles have a starting time in bar/beat/cnt notation and a duration. Plus the pitch of the note. There is also volume variations. It somebody is interested I can send you a copy of my code. The early Roland styles did not have any audio samples. It is very much like MIDI.

The easiest way is to just play C major, C minor, C7 and record a sequence of intro, original fill to variation, variation, fill to original, ending. Both in basic an advanced. Then import the song to MuseScore. It shows up nicely with every instrument on its own section.

Hello karri,
Thank you for the insights into the Roland style file format. I own a BK5 and have have been converting Yamaha style files (from psr S910) to Roland format. I have also written a python script to extract the 3 midi files (M, m and 7), which are then being converted to the final style file using the style convertor software.
What I want to know is a way to insert the "advanced chord voicing" (AVC) messages into the STL file using the computer, as I am currently only able to do it using the BK5's internal rhythm editor. Are you aware of the ACV message format/code?

 

[Carl3813]

I have some old styles that I used and made before on my Roland keyboards. Now I am using Cubase 5 and a midi-keyboard.
Is there software that allows me to use Roland styles over MIDI?
There is a lot for Yamaha (.sty files) but I can't find anything for Roland (.stl files).

Already thanks for the answers!

I can't help but i need to talk with someone who can help me with keyboard to midi
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Carl3813]

I have some old styles that I used and made before on my Roland keyboards. Now I am using Cubase 5 and a midi-keyboard.
Is there software that allows me to use Roland styles over MIDI?
There is a lot for Yamaha (.sty files) but I can't find anything for Roland (.stl files).

Already thanks for the answers!

I can't help but i need to talk with someone who can help me with keyboard to midi
(e-mail address removed)

There are a few programs that let you convert one company's style format to another's, and some of those might include the ability to play the style to an external device in order to "audition" the style, but I have no familiarity with those programs.

Regardless of the specific format that a given company uses, a style file is usually made up of two portions-- a MIDI portion that contains the Note On/Off and other MIDI messages for the style, and a non-MIDI portion that contains additional information in a proprietary format for how the style is supposed to respond when you play different musical keys and chord types.

Sometimes it's possible to simply rename the file extension on the style file to ".MID" and then load the file into your DAW. If this works, it will import the MIDI portion of the file into one or more MIDI tracks, but will ignore the non-MIDI portion that it doesn't understand.

Note that the MIDI portion which does get imported will most likely be for all of the style sections at once, one after the other, usually with a text marker at the beginning of each section to indicate which style section the following MIDI data is for.

Also, the MIDI data will usually be in a specific musical key and chord type, subject to however the given company does things. For example, I know that Yamaha styles are usually written for a C Major 7 chord type, and then the keyboard transposes the chords and phrases of the style to whichever musical key and chord type is being played on the keyboard; but I don't know how Roland does things.

Consequently, you might be able to load one of your Roland style files into your DAW so you can work with the MIDI data in your projects. The way I would probably do it would be to (1) import the file, (2) chop out everything except a specific style section as indicated by the embedded text markers, (3) transpose the MIDI Notes of that section to a specific musical key and chord type, and (4) save that section as a MIDI clip. I would then repeat this process as many times as necessary or desired, until I had a collection of MIDI clips for that style, where each clip corresponded to a specific section of the style being played in a specific musical key and chord type. It would be a bit of work, but the end result would be a collection of MIDI clips that could be imported into your projects as desired, either for one-off playing (such as an introductory passage or ending passage) or for being played in a loop.

Note that since the style file would be programmed to use specific voices or tones or presets-- whatever term the keyboard manufacturer uses to describe the various timbres which are available on its keyboards-- whereas you would presumably be using the DAW's own virtual instruments and plug-in instruments to play the style data, you would want to edit each of these MIDI clips as needed to select whichever presets from whichever virtual instruments you want to use for playing on the various channels within the clips.

Hi carl hear I was hoping for some help trying to hook my keyboard to my laptop 4 midi if you can help ta

 

[slaveofword]

Hello!
Try to use vArranger- this is a good solution for a lots of styles from Yamaha, Roland, Korg.
I have vArranger since 2016. This is a great product.

BR,
Andrew