i have a yamaha ry8 for which i have arranged around 200 jazz standards. the ry8 has preset "patterns" for drums, bass, chord1, chord2 that are a little different from those of the QY70.

now i am told that the ry8 does not send out the bass/chord "song" info on sequential playback. bass, chord1, chord2 come right out of the ry8 as audio.

the ultimate answer may be to translate the bulk dump files into ascii code and go from there, but for now i want to use the qy70 to turn on the ry8 whille muting itself then mute the ry8 while finishing the song in full xg splendor.
the qy70 presets for Misty (jazz standard, bebop)will sound different enough from the comparable qy70 presets to getat least 5 choruses worth of music with just enough variation to keep the audience from feeling they've been trapped in an elevator.

this will back live piano (me) plus vocals, guitar, horns, whatever.

yamaha support says the qy70 will send "start, stop, continue" messages to the ry8. then they caution that "note on" data may cause problems with the ry8 playing chords at the same time as the qy70. or something. qy70 chords with ry8 drums will happen eventually. right now i need a wider range of presets. "rolling your own" is great if you can do it, but i need to get the show on the road and into performance RIGHT NOW or be hideously embarrassed, perhaps traumatized.

i use a standalone midi data filer(yamaha mdf3) to store files. the ry8 is a smf format 0 baby: plays and (i believe) receives only on 1 setable channel (factory set default 10). the mdf3 records on smf format 0 and plays on smf (0 or 1)

i cannot find any smf specification for the qy8 but assume that it plays and records on smf format (0 or 1)

i hope to work all of this ry8 - qy70 - mdf3 information into a small package with credits and links from my website. meanwhile a couple of hours a day go into that little silver box. and yes, i am reading the manual(s)!