Yamaha PSR-SQ16

@ Gilly on the Net

Chat, tips and files for Yamaha's forgotten keyboard

If you've been looking at Yamaha's web site, or been monitoring the software produced by Yamaha in the last 6 years, you may well be thinking "Where the heck did that go?!?".

For some reason, the SQ16 has become the "forgotten" Yamaha PSR! They launched it, raved about it for all of a month, then pushed it to the back of the showrooms and never mentioned it again! They promised us song disks, they promised us style disks. What they actually gave us was token Disk Orchestra compatibility, an unreliable GM spec and a blank look every time we mentioned the product at a music fair! Something should be done!

I really do like the SQ16. The styles are all very playable, it has some cracking sounds (the alto sax is worth the price of the instrument alone) and its 16-track, one-function-per-button sequencer is a piece of you-know-what to use. It also makes a great MIDI mother keyboard. Okay, so the processor they installed to power the thing came out of a VIC-20 (it takes the best part of 30 seconds to load most average MIDI files!) but that's a minor niggle. I like it, every magazine review I ever read liked it, and there's not been a keyboard quite like it since.

So, if you're the proud owner of a Yamaha PSR-SQ16 and want to exchange files or ideas, or just want to chat about the uses of the "New Age Waltz" style, this could be the place for you!

So what's this section of your site all about?

Glad you asked that. Seeing as the SQ16 has many programmable features, I thought this might be a good place to put any files that I come across - user styles, configuration tables and song files. Don't forget that most of the files in my MIDI file section will work on the PSR-SQ16 when it is in General MIDI configuration (Configuration Table #2).

Plus I'll be adding hints and tips that I come across, and invite you to mail me with any hints, tips or files that you wish to share with the rest of the Internet! You will, of course, be fully credited for anything you submit. E-mail me for more details.

I'm also hosting a chat room for MIDI gossip about any of the products supported by MIDI@GOTN. Skip back to my index page for that!

Finally, if you want to be kept up-to-date with any additions here, e-mail me and I'll add your address to my update list. In fact, if you think I might be able to help you with anything at all, don't hesitate to contact me!

The bits you can click on:

More information about the PSR-SQ16

Coming soon...

Songs
User styles
Registrations
Configuration tables

Back to my MIDI index

Maintained by Stephen Gill
sgill@cableinet.co.uk