A SPECIAL THANKS TO bluzplayer

Hi Group,

Many thanks to AJ for converting the BIAB styles. As it turns out, Giovanni SZ member in the UK converted one of these styles (BIAB to Yamaha)from AJ to a Generalmusic Genesys style using EMC Style Works Universal. I loaded it into my GEM XP module and it works fine; four variations, intro, ending. and fills.

As AJ mentioned, it could probably use some tweaking but for me its great as it is.

This contribution from AJ is enormous for GEM owner's because of the difficulty we have in finding new styles for our instruments. To know that there are hundreds of BIAB styles out there is a great feeling.

Once again,many thanks bluzplayer.

Kind Regards
Don

Why is it so hard to get Gem styles?.....how is the support of their products regarding obtaining NEW styles, sound library etc, etc ...



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 08-25-2006).]

I don't really know why GEM styles are difficult to find, maybe its because there are fewer GEM users than other brands. This is my second go-round with GEM. I like their products very well but the style shortage is one thing they need to change.

Currently I have a Genesys XP The learning curve is fairly severe, but I'm getting there. With some minor tweaking I think it is the perfeft module for accordion players.

Style Availability:
I'v found one source, and one source only, for GEM styles. Music Media Soft, http://www.musicmediasoft.com/eng/
This is an Italian Co. I do not know if they are affiliated with GEM or not. The problem I have with them is that they offer very few styles for Genesys. They do have many styles for older GEM kybds and the Genesys is backward compatable, but each style costs about $4.00. I might spring for that if I found one I really liked, and if they weren't so dated. They have some samples you can hear before you buy, but not for all styles.

Yamaha and Roland styles seem to be plentiful but not GEM.

SUPPORT: I havn't had a lot of luck with support as far as styles, or accessories. In fact I just received a multi-pedal unit I purchased from a dealer in the UK because as of yet it has not been available in the US.

TECH SUPPORT:
Unbeatable. Dave McMahan is their tech rep, and he is great. He will help by phone or email whatever it takes. Most of the problems I'v had have been "how to do it" questions. I have spent several sessions with him on the phone and he has been successful on all occasions.

Maybe I answered your question, I hope so.

Regards,
Don

[This message has been edited by donpatt (edited 08-25-2006).]

Don, thanx for the reply I can understand that a smaller company would create a bit harder to locate styles etc, have you ever thought of maybe using conversions from other companies to Gem also? .......but as many have said in the past that Dave McMahan really goes the extra yard to help users after the sale......that is a good thing for sure.
AJ has done that for Ketron users also. Its a good feeling to be able to email or phone someone for help without waiting or going thru endless departments to get the right person to support your needs......I wish you much luck with your Gem unit...possibly share your work with us too, I'd love to hear it.

donpatt,

You're quite welcome. It's my pleasure to be able to share this stuff, and I'm pleased to hear that they are working well for someone else.

I made them so that I would have instant variety for my Tyros 2, and it's working out quite well for me. I have no matches on the T2 for any of the odd meter BIAB styles, and very few matches for some of the jazz and fusion styles.

AJ

HI AJ,
if you don't have any objection,
I'd be happy to convert your BIAB to psr style conversions to other keyboard formats.
I actually have EMC Universal & no doubt the members in the
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/makingstyles/

group would also appreciate your efforts.

Hadn't occurred to me to ask you about this .

best wishes
Rikki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bluezplayer:
[B]donpatt,

Rikki,

I think it's a great idea. Feel free to do anything you want with them.. They can be posted anywhere and modified as anyone sees fit.

AJ

Hi Don,
hadn't realized there was such a shortage of Gem styles.
I normally only convert the odd style here & there to suit my own needs. ( currently to sd1)Even then I usually spend too much time tweaking it.( overly fussy)

Never owned a Gem so don't know how well other formats convert to them.
Some conversions can be plain awful, it's never occurred to me to just do a bunch & hand them out and let members decide what's rubbish & what's not, & let them fix them up themselves.

The making styles groups got quite a few members, but nobody seems to want to open up any discussions, so it's hard to know what members want.

If you need some styles ( I've got 100's from all my ex's), just ask, I'm happy to convert some, only problem is I can't tell whether they're useable or not because I don't own your brand keyboard.
AJ actually had the right idea in calling them " raw styles".

best wishes
Rikki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by donpatt:
[B]Hi Group,

Thanks AJ,
I'll let the group know & see what keyboards they require them for. Might bring some of the lurkers out of the woodwork. haahaa
best wishes
Rikki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bluezplayer:
[B]Rikki,

Your welcome Rikki,

I just also realized... if you get any kind of Roland or Technics version of them out there, it would also be good for me. I can then use the MZ2000's auto convert function to make them into Casio format as well.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 08-26-2006).]

Hi AJ,
don't know anything about casio's , but are you saying that it can convert styles to it's own format, & which one's will it accept. ( Not Yammie by the sounds of things)

Rikki,

The MZ can convert both Technics and Roland styles to it's own format. Styles from any model of either brand seem to work.

AJ

AJ:
Downloaded, and tried the Biab sty's thru my ty2. They play as depicted no problem, There's a lot of good style base there, Drums are excellent on most. Tried to add OTS using Michaels' midiplayer, but no sucess, maybe doing something wrong or just won't do. Anyway I thank you and any others that may have helped. Previewed about 50 so far, and found some usable Jazz styles, one good country, and a few others. Don't have enough time to work with them just yet but saving.....Thanks......pose

Hi AJ,
I came to a bit of a standstill with converting to other formats. For some bizzare reason, EMC doesn't appear to recognize the style names, so it's a tad difficult to tell what's what, also I'm not sure if it's converting correct tempo's.

I can do a few across to roland format if you want to try & see if they work.

I'm just waiting to hear back from sd & Gem owners to see if the conversions worked.

best wishes
Rikki

Hmmm.. I'm guessing it may be because some apps won't recognize spaces, hyphens, etc in the style name itself. The Tyros allows for it, so at the time I wasn't very concerned about naming them this way, but perhaps it was a mistake for me to do that. I learned almost at the end of the process, that BIAB won't recognize styles with spaces either.

AJ

Hi AJ,
I just ended up splitting the styles into folders of 10. They seem to show up numerically. Then I'll split yours into folders of 10 & yours show up alphabetically. So hopefully the correct name will correspond with a number.
Haven't heard back yet if the first batch have converted ok or not.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bluezplayer:
[B]