Edit Multi-Pads

About Multi-Pad files of the PSR-8000 and PSR-9000

PSR-8000 Multi-Pads

1. Introduction

The PSR-8000 has got 60 banks of Multi-Pads. Each bank consists of four parts, which contain different phrases to play synchron with the rhythm and the chords of the song mostly. The banks 1 to 50 contain preset Multi-Pads. The banks 51 to 60 are free to save own user Multi-Pads. In the manual of the PSR-8000 we find a description how to program a Multi-Pad. It is easy to create one and store it at an user bank, but after this there are no functions of the PSR-8000 to edit the phrases which we have recorded. In this article I will describe a method how to change events of recorded Multi-Pads with the use of a HexEditor and some sequencer software, for example Cakewalk.

2. Some Problems with Multi-Pads

There is some difference between the structure of MultiPads and Styles. The last are files with the file-extension .sty and we can load such a file as custom style without any problems - sometimes with bad sound, but this is no matter of the structure. If we save a MultiPad on a FD, we will get not only one file: the PSR-8000 creates the files disk.mng and each save-action produces a file *.usr of an different name. In a directory pad there we find a file pad.mng and some files Ppk(xxx)(yy).pad, each of these with the definition of a MultiPad. Such files *.mng, *.usr and the directories are not needed to load styles and may be deleted, but these files with correct data have to exist, if we want to load MultiPads from a FD or HD: It is not possible to load a MultiPad only from a file Ppk(xxx)(yy).pad. Here YAMAHA has chosen a bad-structured solution for MultiPads.

3. Creating a good MultiPad - Step by Step.

As described in the manual, we select a MultiPad bank number and a Pad and assign a voice for Right 1. Use the fader to get good effects. Then we record the phrase for a given number of measures. We repeat the method at all each of the four Pads. We don't worry if we record bad notes or bad timing. We enter good name for the MultiPad and select a repeat- and chord-modus for the Pads if wanted. Thereafter we save the MultiPad on a FD. We get the files described above. We copy the file Ppk(xxx)(yy).pad on the PC. For example: If we have got the FD-archive Uf_00001.usr and if we have recorded the MultiPad 52, we have to use the MultiPad-file Ppk00102.pad now. Next we load the Ppk-file with the HexEditor. The first hex 80 bytes of the file contain the MultiPad header, seven text-strings of 16 or 32 bytes. We will not change anything of the data in the header. An example:

00000000 5050 4B30 3031 3032 5041 4420 2020 0D0A PPK00102PAD   ..
00000010 4865 696B 6F27 7320 5061 6420 2020 2020 Heiko's Pad
00000020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 0D0A               ..
00000030 5053 522D 3830 3030 2020 2020 2020 0D0A PSR-8000      ..
00000040 5665 7231 2E30 3152 6576 302E 3030 0D0A Ver1.01Rev0.00..
00000050 502C 4920 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 0D0A P,I           ..
00000060 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 0D0A               ..
00000070 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 0D0A               ..

A file with such header cannot be interpreted by Cakewalk, but the following part of the file, beginning at byte-number hex 80 with the MThd chunk-header, builds an usual MIDI-file of format 1 (SMF1). SMF1 is well known by Cakewalk. Therefore we have to delete the hex 80 bytes of the header, save these bytes and rename the file-extension to .mid. After this we can load the file with Cakewalk and edit the events as desired. Finally we have to insert the same header at the beginning of the file and rename it back to its old name. We exchange it with the original file of the FD. On PSR-8000 we can load the edited MultiPad into its bank.

An important remark.
The PSR-8000 MultiPads must be saved with a value of PPQN = 96. PPQN (Pulses Per Quarter Note) defines the frequency of the MIDI-Player. There is a problem with XGWorks, which cannot be solved: XGWorks strictly saves all MIDI-files with PPQN = 480.

4. Some Remarks about the Structure of Multi-Pad Files

The SMF1-Part of a MultiPad file has 5 tracks. Track 1 consists of two marker events at time 1:01:000. I will explain the names of the marker by an example:The marker CM1001 means, that the phrases 1 and 4 will be matched to the played chord; phrases 2 and 3 are played with original notes with each accompaniment.The marker RP0100 means, the the phrase 2 is the only one which will be repeated.Both markers are set in accordance to our settings at PSR-8000. The following tracks no. 2 up to no. 5 match with the events of Pad no. 1 up to Pad no. 4. Each Pad should have the same length and should produce a good sound, if we want to play all pads at the same time. We can listen at the sound using Cakewalk.

PSR-9000 Multi-Pads

With PSR-9000 / 9000Pro it is possible to exchange each of the 58 places of MultiPad with own or Preset MultiPads. All MultiPads can be saved and loaded afterwards. MultiPads are saved into a folder "archive-name". This folder contains all the "mpad-name".pad-files and one file Userfile.ini. The .pad-files have in contrast to the PSR-8000 no header inside: We are able to edit these with sequencer-software directly, but perhaps a change of the file-extension .pad to .mid may be necessary. I don't know if any problem exists with the PPQN. It may be better to use the PPQN of the original file. The SMF1 MultiPad-file has five tracks as with the PSR-8000, but here CMxxxx and RPxxxx are realized by text-events in track 1. Chord and Repeat can be set with complete saved MultiPad-files. In respect of these remarks the files can be edited in the same manner as with the PSR-8000.

End