Greetings from Thor

[javelin276]

Hi Guys!
I just decided to get back into electronic music again after fifteen years.
I took an electronic music course back in college decades ago, which started me out.
Then when the Yamaha VL hardware and softsynth came out I just had to jump in again, though I didn't do much with it back then.

I'm a robotics engineer, with a small robotic tank inspection company, MantaRobotics.com
Lately I needed a break from all of the stress at work, so I looked into the Yamaha XG hardware again.
Prices have really dropped, I picked up a Yamaha MU2000 off of ebay for $150!  It needed repairs, but nothing I couldn't handle.
I already had a PLG150-VL card, and I've added a PLG150-AN card to it in the MU2000.
I also dusted off my Roland keyboard and ordered a breath controller, so we'll see how it all works together shortly.
Now I'm trying to get my head around the control parameters for my new/old hardware.

I'm going to have to dust off my 32-bit laptop, since the XGworks sequencer plugins don't run on 64-bit windows.
Is there a better XG native sequencer out there somewhere?  I'm ten years behind all of the latest stuff.
I went for hardware rather than virtual instruments, it's more to my liking right now.

Anybody watched any of Kebu's videos on YouTube?  The kid is awesome!  And it's all done on old hardware.

Later, I've got to get back to work.
Thor

ie Javelin276

[Henry]

Hi Thor,

A bit late to welcome you here, but nevertheless, it's nice to see that people are still keeping XG alive!

I used to love my SW1000XG sound card and its tweakability. Together with XGworks v2, it marked my first real deep-dive into MIDI. Windows XP became their last stand, however, so both the card and the old sequencer had to go when I migrated to a 64-bit system. I then bought an old MU2000, to keep the sounds and programming style, and to house a couple of PLG cards. I haven't been disappointed so far. (The MU2000 of course uses the standard Yamaha USB-MIDI driver, that is still being updated for both 32 and 64 bits, which is nice to know. I've been stuck by Yamaha's lack of driver support on more than one occation...)

I just wanted to give you a tip about an alternative to XGworks to cross over into the 64-bit world: The Yamaha SQ01 v2 sequencer, that came on a CD-ROM with my Motif ES synthesizer. This freebie software was bundled with lots of other Yamaha instruments as well, and was kept up-to-date until the Steinberg aquisition (after which they started handing out Cubase LE instead).

For those that don't know, the original line of XGworks for Win9x stopped at version 4. For us folks on the western hemisphere, V3 was the last available version for purchase, since V4 was never marketed outside Japan. The latter was a reworked version, compatible with WinNT-based systems, and patches to run V2 or V3 under WinXP were eventually also made available. Another japanese-only version, named XGworks ST, was later developed as a sibling to Yamaha's SOL sequencer. These were built purely for the WinXP platform, and brought support for ASIO interfaces, VST plugins and the new Studio Manager/OPT editors, among other nice things.

Now, the SQ01 is sort of a cut-down version of XGworks ST/SOL. It is built on the same foundation, although it does miss some of the major features (I'll get to the specifics below). Despite a slightly overhauled GUI, I'm pretty sure it will feel very familiar to XGworks oldtimers. To me, it's a perfect replacement for the old XGworks series, because of the way XG parameters are displayed (i.e. "plain-english") and edited, and because it opens my old XGworks files. Apart from the more modern specs, the real treat is that it runs just fine on Windows 7 64-bit (I haven't bothered with Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 yet)!

As-is, SQ01 does miss a couple of important features. My copy only came with TWE and an Audio Mixer panel for audio tracks, and these have to be installed separately. Other instruments were bundled with different add-ons, such as the Auto Arranger panel. The good thing is that the missing features can be added by separate installers, such as the XG Editor panel, which will surely make XGworks users feel right at home!  There is even a Sample Editor for the MU2000, although its menus are in Japanese, and I'm not sure how it works. Finally, if you install the Studio Manager software, and the latest editors for you PLG boards, they will appear as selectable panels within the sequencer too.

For me, the most annoying shortcoming of SQ01 is that it doesn't include an instrument definition file for the MU2000. I haven't yet found a way to import these after installation, but there is a way to add MU2000 support before you install SQ01: Simply install the XGworks ST Demo first (It's in Japanese, but you'll probably figure out where to click), and then uninstall it. When you install SQ01 afterwards, you will find the needed options.

Send me a PM if you need more info!

BTW: I'm totally with you on Kebu, he is one outstanding guy!


Best regards

- H -

[JohnG]

Hi Geir,

Good to know there's another XGworks enthusiast around. There are still a few of us diehards about.

Yup, I wrote a quick article about SQ01 a little while back, but was (at that time) a little disappointed about how much had been cut out of the program compared to XGworks v.4. However, since that time I've managed, at rather high cost, to acquire a copy of XGworks ST from Japan, off the Japanese eBay. I removed SQ01 from the PC, installed ST and then reinstalled SQ01. On installation SQ01 picked up all the libraries of ST.

Now, one might ask, why not just use XGworks ST?
Well, a huge amount is still in Japanese. By using SQ01 one gets the best of both worlds.

I now have the equivalent of the old program, with all the new facilities incorporated, and use SQ01/ST pretty well daily.
For me the major advantage of having the full ST installed is that I now have notation back again.
The key feature in SQ01 (IMV) is the ability to load VST instruments.
I can now drive my library of orchestral samples as provided by Garritan.

Sadly though, most of the help files are in Japanese, so I'm gradually converting them to English.

Q. Just a point though, where can one find a copy of the Gworks ST demo?
Wouldn't it be good if we could cobble together a version of SQ01 with the various other libraries from ST, to make available to others?

Kind regards,
JohnG.

[Henry]

Hi John,

Aaah, the notation view... I knew I had overlooked something. That's probably what I'd call a major missing feature with SQ01, and I completely missed it (although I haven't really missed it, if you catch my drift. I never used it much). Is that an integral part of XGworks ST, or is there a separate installer on your disc, John?

I honestly can't remember where I downloaded the ST demo, and the website probably doesn't exist anymore. What you can do is visit the rather excellent "Internet Wayback Machine" (archive.org/index.php), and from there try out any dead download links Google may still toss up. If you're out of luck, I still have the ST demo over here (54MB .zip file).

---

Edit: I just found the download links; look towards the bottom of the following pages:

XGworks ST Demo: web.archive.org/web/20070820175826/http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/syndtm/dl/soft/xsttr_al.zip
SOL2 Demo: web.archive.org/web/20070820175133/http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/syndtm/dl/soft/sol2tral.zip

You'll notice that the SOL2 Demo comes in a bigger file, indicating that it might contain some "extras".

- H -

[JohnG]

Hi Geir,

I answered your PM to me earlier on today.

Thanks for those links.

For some reason the first one didn't work out, but never mind, I've got ST.
I'm in the throes of downloading the second one.
But, if as you say it's demo software and will time out, then I suppose there's not much point trying it.

After replying to your post I decided to see what the software had set up in the registry.
Now I wish I hadn't, there's a huge stack of entries in the local machine / Yamaha section.
I haven't a clue what most of it does.

Regards,
John.

[Henry]

*hmmm* The link to the XGworks ST demo worked fine just yesterday. Let me know if you want me to send you the file I have.

- H -

[JohnG]

Not sure I need the ST demo files as I've got the working ST program, but thanks anyway.

See the PM I've sent.

[javelin276]

Hi Guys, Nice to see someone eventually responded!
I've got SQ01 running on my Windows 7 machine, but it doesn't recognize any of my midi devices in setup. The MU-2000 is USB, it doesn't show up in the devices window, and my other synths are going through M-Audio MidiSport interfaces to USB.
My Yamaha WDM USB-Midi Driver is version 3.1.4. What version are you guys using?

I would also like a copy of the ST demo file, I couldn't get the link to work either. I tried several different ways in the WayBack machine, but couldn't find the download link at all.


Lately I've been working on a Yamaha FS1R which I've written a new and improved fseq Editor for, and on a PLG100-SG card which I translated all the manuals into English for. I don't know if either of those synths are of interest to you guys. Downloads are on my website.
www.JavelinArt.com

[Henry]

Hi there,

I'm also using my MU2000 with the v3.14 USB driver under Windows 7 x64. SQ01 has no problems detecting it, and it picks up all my other MIDI Devices too. Have you installed the SQ01 v2.09 update?

- H -

[javelin276]

Hi Geir,
Yes, I do have the SQ01 v2.09e update installed. I wonder what's wrong with mine? I have a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64, just reinstalled all of the USB midi drivers, just reinstalled SQ01 and updated it to v2.09. Just rechecked and the Yamaha USB driver is 3.1.4. SQ01 doesn't see ANY of my midi devices.

I have a MidiRouter App and a MidiSelector App and both see all of my midi devices, and so does Onyx Arranger sequencer and XGWorks. The only midi App that doesn't work is SQ01.

You only thing I can think of that may be different is I installed SQ01 on a different drive, not C:.  

Any ideas?

[javelin276]

Hi Guys, I just figured out the key to getting SQ01 to recognize your midi interfaces after installation. This is important so pay attention: You HAVE to run the SQ01-Installer with Windows XP Service Pack 3 compatibility and Administrator privileges. If you don't, you will never get the program to see your midi inputs and outputs. Got it? The instructions above were not quite clear on whether the SQ01 application needed this or whether the Installer did. The INSTALLER needs these settings. Thanks Geir, it finally works!

[Henry]

I'm glad to hear you got the sequencer up and running, Thor!

For all others out there: The Yamaha SOL2 sequencer software (and the derivate XGworks ST, Hello Music and SQ01 specs) was developed mainly for the Windows XP platform, and therefore doesn't adhere to some significant security policy changes introduced with Windows Vista. This goes for the installer as well. Before Vista, it was e.g. common practice for an application to save its settings in one or more .INI files within the installation folder on your hard drive (hard-core Cakewalk users will probably remember that some advanced settings could only be changed by manually editing such a file). With Vista and later, only apps running with administrative privileges are allowed write access to the system folders, including the Program Files folder. Application settings are therefore preferrably saved in subfolders residing within the 'Users' directory instead.

There are other changes too, such as what parts of the system memory an app can have access to, which OS services the app needs to connect to the rest of the system, and so on. This is really way beyond my level of understanding (I can't stress this part enough), but I'm guessing that these "gaps" are bridged by assigning the correct Compatibility Mode, so that certain legacy functions are still available to the application. Without these work-arounds, SOL2/SQ01 (and lots of other old apps too), will try to do their things the old way and fail.

I haven't tested whether the Administrator privilege or the Windows XP SP3 Compatibility Mode is actually needed with all of the optional add-on modules for SOL2/SQ01 or not. Once I learned this trick, I kind of stuck with always installing them in this fashion. It seemed to work like this anyway, with minimal performance overhead.

The Yamaha SOL2-based sequencer family is a superb match for the MU2000 and other XG instruments, perhaps with an exception for the cut-down SQ01, which is missing a few of the instrument definitions. All of them are powerful yet familiar upgrades over the older XGworks sequencers, as I'm sure you'll see. I've grown particularly fond of the S-YXG50 VSTi that came with SOL2, which serves as a backup XG instrument for when I don't have the MU2000 around with my laptop. Here's to having hours of new fun with old toys!

- H -

[JohnG]

Hi Thor and Geir,

So pleased you worked things out!
I'm about to take the plunge and start to use Windoze 7 Pro.
I've got to see if my elderly EMU cardbus audio/MIDI interface will work in an adapter on the laptop I've just bought.
Regards,
JohnG.

[javelin276]

Hi JohnG, Did you mention that you have some of the SOL2 manual translated into English? I could use that right about now.
Regards, Thor

[Henry]

Hi,

Since JohnG hasn't answered, I'll pick up instead: The most important parts of the SOL2 manual (features it has above the SQ01 spec) have been translated. I'm in the process of updating the graphical contents to reflect English menus etc., as well as polishing the layout. I can send you the files I have, to replace the ones that are installed with SOL2. 

- H -