One of the big benefits of using a Yamaha Arranger Keyboard is the huge support forum PSR-Tutorial, of which I have been a moderator for nearly two decades.

Not only does the forum provide answers to difficult Yamaha specific related questions and solution to tough problems, members also have access to thousands upon thousands of song specific styles, many of which range from good to excellent in quality. While most song specific styles are modified versions of onboard styles, there are a huge number of them that were created from scratch by forum members who really dig into the technical aspects of creating a high quality, song-specific, style file.

Thanks to my good friend and fellow PSR Tutorial forum moderator, Roger, for creating and posting an excellent, song specific style file for this old Bob Seger song, Against The Wind.

During an interview on WWFX, "100 FM The Pike", Bob Seger said that "Against the Wind" came about from his days as a high-school cross country runner. The line "Let the cowboys ride!" towards the song's end is a reference to the closing lyrics of the song "Santa Fe/Beautiful Obsession" by Van Morrison.

Seger later said that the line "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then" bothered him for a while, but that everyone he knew loved it, so he left it in. He also said that it has since appeared in several other hits by other artists, so that proved it was an acceptable lyric.

Music critic Maury Dean described the theme as being about aging and dealing with "all the burdens we'll ever have to face. I can relate this part of the song, as I will hit 79 years old this coming October, if I make it that far. (fingers crossed) I'm somewhat optimistic in this respect, mainly because I had the boat put in the water yesterday and hope to put the sails on by Tuesday. I would put them on Monday, but the damned forecast is calling for light snow Monday morning. Sure tired of winter!

Here's my rendition of Against The Wind using the style that Roger created.

Gary 8)

Is there a link to the song specific style files?

and good job on Against the Wing too..

There is no separate area on the forum where they are stored, however, if you have need a a style for a specific song, just log onto the forum, click the styles tab and request the a style for that song. Usually, with an hour or two, someone will provide you with a song specific style, which usually includes the correct intro and ending.

I'll email you a bunch that I have on my USB drive if you have not already downloaded it.

Gary

Thank you Gary

Gary, because of what I learned from you and the Yamaha forum, I am song-naming my styles. I had been naming then according to style types. When I set up my S975 it was pretty easy – no search through all the styles.

The user styles in my Korg are being filled the same way.

I enjoyed listening to Against the Wind, ya still right on key, nice.

Peace to my friend, John C.

Thanks John, glad I was able to help.

All the best,

Gary

The attached zip folder contains many of the song specific styles I have on my USB drive. These are Yamaha styles, and they will play in any Yamaha arranger keyboard since the creation of the PSR-3000.

Have fun with them,

Gary

Thank you for that Mr Wizard!

Just goes to show you, Gary:

Nice work... and proof of the pudding. That song was a killer during it's time... and you are right, that phrase was "borrowed"" on many a song afterward. You still "have it" my friend... and your participation at the PSR Forum is so very important. Yamaha should put you "on retainer"... and I mean that in the sincerest way.

Donny, I think you will have a lot of fun with these styles, and I would love to hear you posting more songs on this forum.

Dave, I'm doing my best with what little time I have left on planet Earth. I have always strived to help as many people as I could, even when I was quite young. I kinda doubt that Yamaha will put me on a retainer, though, but it would be a big boost to my sailing kitty.

All the best,

Gary

Thank you for the styles Gary and nice job with that song. Cal

Glad I could help, Cal. And thanks for the compliments on the song submission.

All the best,

Gary

Went thru most of the song specific styles and some I had already for some reason, but there were some real gems in there also to choose.
Song specific styles is what I was talking about when you can customize your intros/ending, & variations to a certain song...all the tools and features are already in the kbs....you just have to have the talent and know how to pursue it for your needs.

That's the beauty of using Style Creator, the built in program Yamaha uses in all it's arranger keyboards. Once you learn how to use it, which requires a fair amount of time, you will be absolutely astounded as to how easy it is to create some high quality style files.

All the best,

Gary

Nice job on the tune, Gary ...

And while I've only scratched the surface, creating your own styles on the KORG is pretty easy also - if I can do it, ANYONE can ... swap anything you want from one style to another, overlay tracks, create new ones, etc. ...

This is one of the reasons i love the yamaha forums..
People love to help and share their creations...

Tony, the only Korg I ever owned was an I-3, and it was pretty bare bones, but sounded pretty good at the time. Don Mason tells me that creating styles with it is a snap. The I-3 did have any software features like this available. Thanks for listening to my song, and those kind words.

Bachus, I agree with your comments about the Yamaha, online community. There are a lot of nice folks on those forums and they freely share their experiences and creations.

All the best,

Gary

lets face it the minute you even just change the OTS sound and save the style it becomes "your custom" style .....But, when you dig in deep and re-record let's say the bass line, drum beats, add new parts, filters, EQ, etc, eg: brass stabs, string layers, etc, it becomes
"YOUR GREAT CUSTOM UNIQUE STYLE"

Yep! That's the way I look at it as well, Donny.

Gary

Yes gary example many Yamaha 4th variations BIG BAND styles don't have a walking bass line which I love as a singer and player, its most times a jumping bass line,.....this is where re-recording or even pasting a style part bass line from lets say Var2 or 3 comes in very handy to customize the style...

Yes, Donny, that's what I was alluding to ...

If you are looking for good quality song styles, Doo is the best place to find them. Its not free, but of excellent quality.

https://www.d-o-o.de/index.php?&lang=en

this is also a nice site to purschase >. https://styles-24.de/epages/ff46e5fa-0ca...n_your_language

Soneg

yeah..iv'e got a few styles from them..there's not much choice on the paid for style circuit ..but i recommend these guys

Try Ron's site:
https://createsongstyles.com

Hi Gary, very nice rendition.

Vinciane