Yamaha V50 YSEDITOR with Steem Atari ST Emulator

On By jimdatwoodIn Synthesizer
Yamaha V50 YSEDITOR Librarian
Yamaha V50 YSEDITOR Librarian on Steem

Today I had some great success in using the YSEDITOR version 3.35 for Yamaha V50 running on Steem version 3.2 Emulation. Steem is an ST Emulator which recreates the Atari ST computer in software on a PC. My OS is Windows 7 32 bit and I run the YSEDITOR inside the Steem ST Emulator. This was my first time running both applications on the Windows 7 platform and with reading the readme text info, I was able to figure out how to get everything running.

I much prefer using the Sound Quest editor for the Yamaha V50 as it’s a little easier to edit with in my opinion. However, as a librarian, it’s got a problem with loading and saving banks to the Yamaha V50. It loads individual voices and performances just great, but cannot load entire I-IV banks at all. The editor is also better with Midi Sound Quest because it’s visually nice being color, but also you get realtime updates with your sound edits. You also don’t have to run either Steem Emulation or the YSEDITOR which requires Atari.

Initially to get the YSEDITOR formatted voice banks into the V50, I had to find something different for that and the YSEDITOR for the V50 worked very well. As you can see by the screenshot I am able to load and save banks of 100 voices or performances very easily. There are also several banks of voices that come with the software editor which I have now converted to Midi Sound Quest format. It was particularly nice to get the TX81Z Rom library for the V50 which has the famous “LatelyBass” voice. A couple of the other libraries has “Shimmer” one and two which are very good.

It took me a couple of hours “trial and error” to get the correct setup that worked well with the Yamaha V50. Getting the YSEDITOR, Steem Atari Emulator, and the Yamaha V50 all in sync and working together did have some minor hiccups. Once I got my settings down, I was then able to proceed transferring and working with the voices in a stable manner. Again, my goal with the YSEDITOR was simply to access the large library of voices in the Atari format so that I could transfer them over to Midi Quest. When done, I’ll probably only work with MidiQuest editing voices, performances, and creating my own custom banks.

The developer of YSEDITOR offers no support for using the editor with Steem ST Emulator which I understand so you’re on your won when using these two together, but they do both work just fine. I wanted to mention that the YSEDITOR does work with STEEM very well on Windows 7 32bit platform connected to a Yamaha V50. For all I know, I am the only one using the Yamaha V50 so I’d much rather field questions if anyone should have any…laugh. Info about the Yamaha V50 or anyone using it is hard to find. So feel free to email or comment with any questions regarding the YSEDITOR and it’s use with Steem and the Yamaha V50. Once setup correctly it’s very stable and a very powerful editor for the Yamaha V50. There’s loads of voices in that format with sounds that are pretty cool.

14 thoughts on “Yamaha V50 YSEDITOR with Steem Atari ST Emulator”

  1. I pretty much have found all options with regards to the Yamaha V50 editors and librarians out there. Hands down, the best option is actually the “YSEDITOR with Steem Atari ST Emulator”. It does everything from acting as a good librarian to editing voices and performances. It works really well despite the fact that it’s an Atari application.

    My second choice of V50 editors is the one by Sound Quest. The V50 Sound Quest editor “instrument file” is based on the TZ81Z synth and thus does not work properly with the V50. Editing “individual” voices works very well and I prefer it over the SYEDITOR above, however, retrieving select voice banks and/or banks(100) does not work at all. Technically Sound Quest is not truthful about having a V50 editor. It really is just ported from the TZ81Z and it’s a crappy port job too in my opinion.

    My third choice is SoundDiver from Emagic. This software is long gone on the Windows PC platform, but I still have a copy. Like with Sound Quest, the instrument adaptation is based on the TZ81Z which means it doesn’t work well. I don’t know who thought it would, but it doesn’t …laugh. The “single” voice and performance editing functions work great though and so SoundDiver is a good alternative if you like using that platform.

    Finally, P-Farm is an excellent voice “creation” tool that I use quite a bit with making new voice banks. It works really well and I highly recommend it with the Yamaha V50.

    Reply
    1. abdullah

      hi i just bought a yamaha v50 and having a dificulty in connecting it to my pc so i could onnet it with a sotware
      can u help me out

      Reply
  2. Kim

    Hello Jim, sorry to disturb you again… I need your knowledges about the v50!
    1. About Yseditor: I can run Steam without any problem, but it doesn’t seem to recognize YSEDITOR program! I can’t find it on Steem desktop as it should be… do you have any idea?
    2. About the v50 sequencer! I’m getting crazy… I don’t understand how to use the sequencer…
    So i’ve created my 8 track song, and i can record the track 1 in performance mode without any problem but when i want to record the track 2,3 or 4…
    No more sound… i suppose i have to determine the midi channel to the track, but i’m really lost and the manual doesn’t help me more! Thank you very much for your time and attention…

    Reply

    1. Hi Kim,

      On my computer, I have Steem installed in C:\steem with a virtual hard disk folder in C:\steem\hd. In the hd folder I have the YSEDTV50.PRG program. Note that this version of YSEDIT is special for the Yamaha V50.

      The Steem Engine version I am using is v3.2(built Oct 22 2004). I am also using “Tos206us.img” when I use Steem with either the Yamaha V50 or Kawai K4. http://steem.atari.st/download.htm

      The Yamaha V50 Editor & Bankmanager is Version Number: 3.35. You can download it here: http://home.zonnet.nl/m.tarenskeen/download/tos/index.html

      Hopefully that should help you get started with Steem.

      With regards to the sequencer, you are are correct. You need to make sure the midi channels are assigned properly.

      Hope that helps!

      Reply
      1. Kim

        Thank you so much for this answer Jim! You’re the man! I’m gonna check all this…Take care! See ya… Peace

      2. Philip

        I’ve got Steem and the YSEDITV50.PRG running as you have suggested, but when I run the application in steem, I cannot select any buttons in the program. The cursor disappears and the mouse has no effect. Any ideas? The mouse works fine until I select OK to dismiss the application version info dialog. Thanks for any suggestions!

    2. JDBlackhawk

      First select one of the preset performances labelled “rock”, “demo”, “latin” and there are several others which will give you an instant setup for recording multiple tracks-I think these are number 94, 95, 96 up to performance 99.. You first must select a performance setup that specifically assigns sounds on separate midi channels to create a multi track arrangement. Took me awhile to figure this out, but once you select a preset performance, it is easy to edit it any way you want to and store as a “user” performance selecting different sounds, effects, volume levels etc. Most of the “performance” presets are set up for live keyboard playing with 2,3, 4 or more voices layered to the same midi channel-you will see the track lights flash at the same time when you play these. If you start recording with one of these selected first, you will only be able to record on the tracks assigned to that performance-might only be 2 tracks, or even one. The manual also suggests creating you drum “song” first if you intend to have a drum part at all. Unlike other more recent sequencers, the drum sequencer is truly treated as a separate drum machine, which must then be selected by the sequencer. You must stitch together an entire sequence of drum parts or patterns first, save this as a drum “song” then select this drum “song” to play along with the sequencer (unless you want to use only one pattern for your entire sequenced arrangement. Confusing if you have not worked withe older Yamaha sequencers and drum machines-its like they took the separate boxes and put them in one big (but very nice) box and added a keyboard! Sorry for the long reply, but there isn’t much out there about the V50, now there will be. And thanks Jim for all the info. Steem works a treat on my XP machine (I’m an old Atari fan) and YSedit is amazingly cool. Trouble is, now I’m using way too much time installing all the other great Atari music programs, yikes like one computer platform wasn’t enough!

      Reply
  5. JDBlackhawk

    Sorry my post ended up in the wrong place-I was trying to respond to someone having trouble working with the sequencer, guess I didn’t post correctly.

    Reply
  6. novoline

    Jim, those patches you converted from V50 to SQX, are they still around and could you make them available? I’ve got a kaleidoscope of computer incompatibilities in front of me from stopping me from crossing the bridge: A real atari st that yseditor50 keeps crashing on, a Midi Quest on OS X where Steem doesn’t work, and a PC that doesn’t communicate properly via my midi hardware

    Reply

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