Hi All!

I'm wondering if anyone can here can help me with my present quandry. Basically I have in my possession about 20 disks of music made with a yamaha keyboard of (approx.) 1993-1999 vintage.

The problem is the maker (a relative) is deceased and nobody knows which actual model keyboard it was. The disks are not in any format my PC recognises (it wants to format them) and I understand many early yamaha keyboards used a proprietry format for their disks.

My question is, can I find out what model keyboard it was from these disks (without, for example, trying a disk in every Yamaha keyboard from that era). i.e. Is there software that will read these proprietry formats? I have spent considerable time searching the internet for a solution but to no avail. I also emailed Yamaha and got this reply:

I am replying to your email regarding your midi files. Unfortunately without knowing the model of the keyboard it is impossible to tell what format the midi files are in. Our earlier model PSR keyboards saved user songs as a system exclusive file which means that those files are unique to that particular model and can only be played by that keyboard. Yamaha does not make software which can convert system exclusive data into a standard midi file. If this software is available it will need to be sourced from a third party. Yamaha released quite a number of PSR model keyboards from 1993 to1999. Some of these include:

PSR-77, 78, 79
PSR-82, 83, 84, 85
PSR-110, 130 180 185, 190, 195
PSR-220, 225, 230
PSR-330
PSR-410, 420
PSR-520, 530
PSR-620, 630
PSR-1700
PSR-A3
PSR-D1


Finally, some of the labels on the disks may well give some clues as to their origin in that I believe they reference Yamaha presets/sounds. These include:

Bebop, Helicopter, Afro Beat, Hammond B3, Tunnel Organ, Electronic Buzz, Russian Chant, Solo La, High Ah, Low Ah, Breathy Doo

The disk labels also make reference to High voices and Low voices

Anyone recognise those presets? Or can anyone here steer me in the right direction? I guess at least if anyone knows which of the above models uses a proprietry disk format would be useful for a start.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers

John