Info: Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: IvanB
Date: 25 May 11 - 09:34 PM

Guest, guest, do you have a manual for the 220? If not, I'd suggest you Google it - several places have manuals you can download. Actually I have a PDF copy of the manual I dl'd when this thread was first started, to compare the functions with my 225. If you're trying to do what Rick was describing in the first post, he outlined the procedure further down in the thread at my request. I can't really teach you much about using the 220, since I never had one and, in fact, I no longer have my 225 but Rick's instructions seem pretty straightforward.

Rick's death was a great loss to Mudcat and the world at large. He'd have loved a teaching opportunity like this.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 25 May 11 - 11:26 AM

can someone teach me how to use the rec/end (easy chord memory) on my 220? i just got a few months ago to learn with. thanks

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 02:12 PM

Please read the thread... the person asking the question died...

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 12:57 PM

I am thinking about selling my psr-220 and a roland em-10. Contact me if you are still interested.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,guest g
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 03:33 PM

i have a psr 220 in mint condition

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,meri
Date: 11 Mar 10 - 09:17 PM

Hi.. Dont know how long ago this was posted but I have a PSR 220 with stand and foot pedal... Let me know if your interested..
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Bernard
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 02:23 PM

Please read the thread carefully!!

Rick is no longer with us.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,Corey
Date: 12 Feb 10 - 02:19 PM

Have a Yamaha psr 220 for sale with stand , seat, power , pedal and various books.

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard powercord?
From: GUEST,mjd
Date: 03 Jan 10 - 02:53 PM

I lost the power cord to my PSR 220 - F. Can anyone help me find a replacement?

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,Sherry
Date: 17 Dec 09 - 04:43 PM

Can someone give me a clue on how I can get my cords section to work?
I've tried everything, and it still sounds like I'm playing just the notes, I can't get a beat going with the different sounds of instruments going on, I used to remember how to get it working, but I haven't used it in such a long time, I have totally forgotten. If anyone can help me, please email at: [e-mail]
Thanks for you help!

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Peace
Date: 22 Jun 09 - 08:53 PM

I should inform you that Rick Fielding (the thread starter) passed away on March 20, 2004. FYI.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Jun 09 - 08:44 PM

how do you record.... everytime i try to> it says NO DATA. WAT DO I DO?

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 01:48 PM

Rick- I have a yamaha psr 220. Used very very little. Drop me a line at markslenders@hotmail if interested

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Mar 09 - 08:53 PM

hey i want to record wht im playing on the grand piano on this model of yamaha how can i do that

lmao its pissing me off i hit the record play and press record again and it wont work it says no data


help me

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: GUEST,Barbara
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 04:17 PM

I have a Yamaha PSR 220 for sale $150. View the ad on Pittsburgh PA Craigslist, under Items for Sale, then Musical Instruments

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Marion
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 12:23 AM

Here's a slightly different perspective:

I used the "Groove Builder" at www.wholenote.com to make jam tracks to practice scales with, and I found that the timing seemed slightly off - I guess there was a hesitation before the loop repeated itself.

But I decided to just consider this part of the game; coping with this irregularity is part of the exercise. After all, real live bands aren't always going to have metronome-perfect timing, right?

Marion

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 06:15 PM

Thanks Ivan. That's the damn problem. The 220 was NOT elegant.....they changed the whole design of their "home" keyboards right after it. Big well-lit displays, cool silver colour......but no damn repeat function!!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: IvanB
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 05:22 PM

Rick, I did some more playing with my 225. The 225, unlike the 220, has a feature called "EZ Chord" (not "Easy Chord" as referenced in the 220 manual). If the "Record" button is pressed enough times, the keyboard is put into EZ Chord recording mode. In this mode, you record the chords of a song in the order they are played, not in realtime. The method is to finger a chord in the bass section (using multiple chord fingerings for minors, 7ths, etc., or just the root note for majors), then press the "+" key on the number pad. After entering all the chords for the tune, the style is started. Pressing any key in the bass section will now advance the accompaniment to the next chord. Since it's obvious that it'd be darn near impossible to be playing most any stringed instrument and press keys at the proper times, the answer is, you get a foot pedal. The foot pedal can be set by the function key to the function of advancing the chords in the progression each time it's pressed. And the chord progression DOES repeat without hesitation.

Certainly not quite as elegant as on the 220, but it does work.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: IvanB
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 01:31 PM

Rick, sorry, the 225 won't do the job. One of the "improvements" Yamaha apparently made was to remove the repeat function.

If he has a computer, he might still want to watch eBay for a 220. All the older model numbers seem to crop up there periodically. Course, SuperJam, that I mentioned above, can do this on a computer. I'm lucky enough to have my computer and instruments all in the same room (VERY crowded) so I don't worry about the keyboard's lack of function. I often set up a chord track in SuperJam so I can practice playing along with it. Its default setting is to play a section continuously until stopped.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 12:05 PM

Hi Ivan. Thanks for your post.

I get my looped track by:

Selecting style.

pushing the record button.

chording out a pattern (anything from two bars to 64).

Press Stop.

Press repeat.

Press Start.

The track will play endlessly over and over WITH NO BREAK OF TEMPO IN BETWEEN.

The best soloing tool I've ever encountered.

Could you see if your keyboard can do the same thing? If so, than at least my friend has one more model he can search for.

Thanks greatly.

Rick

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: IvanB
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 10:01 PM

hespiris (and anyone else who'd like to try it), SuperJam is still available on the web. It's found here:

SuperJam

Let me warn you that there's no documentation that I know of and the help function is pretty rudimentary, so you have to just experiment to find out how to do many of its functions, but it's fun even when you're just learning.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: hesperis
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 04:37 PM

I'd like to try it, IvanB!

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: IvanB
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 03:20 PM

Rick, I tried to send a reply earlier, but the system ate my post when I hit the submit button!

How do you create your chord backup on your 220? I have a PSR 225, which, using the Yamaha site, seems to compare closely to the 220. I have to admit I haven't tried recording a chord track, but, if you're using the User Song method, the instructions for the 225 seem almost identical to the 220. I bought my 225 a few months ago on eBay and, at the time, there were several available. I lucked into a brand new keyboard for $52, including shipping. I don't see any on there right now, but it would be worth checking periodically.

As for software, John in Brisbane clued me in to a package called 'SuperJam' a couple years ago and it's fantastic! You can quickly create a chord track in a myriad of style and mood combinations, change the instrumentation for the style and even change the relative volume of any instrument. Admittedly, it's still a MIDI band when you're done, but I find it an improvement over the static styles available on the keyboard. Apparently SuperJam was a Win 3.1 program that got orphaned when its creator either went belly-up or was absorbed into a conglomerate. If you'd like to try it, I'd be happy to send you a copy.

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 01:13 PM

refresh....we're desperate!

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 08:42 PM

Thanks for the suggestions folks, but it's the PSR 220 or nuthin' for my friend. Amazingly enough it's the only Yamaha that does the loop function exactly right. More expensive models have a milli-second hesitation, which screws up the banjo rolls.

Several of the computer programs can do this (I've checked them all) but the PSR220 is lightning fast and really does the job.

Thanks

Rick

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 07:39 PM

PSR225 located HERE.

PSR150 located HERE.

Any idea on whether and/or which older Yamahas have the playback loop?....I also found a 340 used but it doesn't seem to have the function as it was almost new........When did they stop it and what models had it? Any idea? There are a lot of used keyboards on the net.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Ian Darby
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 06:57 PM

For putting backing tracks together quickly I can recommend Soundtreks 'Jammer Professional'

Its cheap, quick and easy to use.

I run it through an old Yamaha TG100 sound module and an SWXG soundcard.

Have a look at their site: www.soundtrek.com

Good luck

Ian

Subject: RE: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: hesperis
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 04:25 PM

I've got an old Kawai with pre-programmed background rhythms. They are pretty basic but they do repeat.

Now, if you have a computer anywhere near your teaching studio... I can help you with some software that you can use for the same purpose. Either "band in a box" (VERY cheesy, but also very easy to set up - according to flattop) or "fruity loops" (a very cool program, but can be less easy to learn).

Subject: Help! Yamaha PSR 220 Keyboard. Anyone?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 04:06 PM

Hi. I'm putting this in for a friend of mine. As some of you might know, I consider the purchase of my PSR220 (about five years ago) to be just about my most valuable acquisition from a teaching standpoint. It was only a couple of hundred bucks US, and has paid for itself a hundred times over.

It has a "loop function" that will play a chord pattern (of your choice) over and over again. The student (or I) can play along with it till the cows come home....or til they die, actually.

It's been an absolutely invaluable tool as it allows folks to 'hear' the sound of a 'band' behind them while they practice, although it's a pretty cheesy sounding 'band'.

I've contacted Yamaha with no luck at all. All they say is "Oh that's discontinued...you want one of our NEW models" No I don't! The 'new' ones don't have that simple and continuous 'LOOP' function.

So does ANYONE know where my friend might get one of these? Does anyone have one to sell?

Thanks

Rick

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Please Note:

Rick Fielding, who started this thread, died in 2004 - so he no longer has need of a keyboard. The discussion has been worthwhile for all, so I think we'll leave the thread open for discussion.
-Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-