22,576 midi song files, including over 5,000 songs from PSR Performers, all playable directly on your Yamaha keyboard.
Before reviewing what is in this collection, let's talk a little bit about "MIDI". Consider the definition below, which I extracted from MIDI - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) defines a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors that allow a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another. A single MIDI link can carry up to 16 channels of information.
MIDI carries event messages that specify notation, pitch and velocity, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato, audio panning and cues, and clock signals that set and synchronize tempo between multiple devices. These messages are sent to other devices where they control sound generation and other features. This data can also be recorded into a hardware or software device called a sequencer, which can be used to edit the data and to play it back at a later time.
Your PSR or Tyros keyboard incorporates the above MIDI standard. When you record a song on your keyboard, you are creating a "midi file", which is basically a file that captures the duration and volume of every note you play as well as the voice you are using.
Your keyboard not only creates midi files, but it can also read them and, if you play a midi file in your keyboard, the keyboard reproduces the music that is encoded in that file. So, you can record a midi file, save it, and then, when you play it back, your keyboard reproduces exactly what you played just as you played it. If you give that midi file to a friend, who also has a Yamaha keyboard, that friend can play your midi file and it will be just as if you were sitting at his or her keyboard and playing!
That means people can record songs, save the midi file, and then share that midi file with others so that they, too, can enjoy the recording. Because MIDI defines a standard, that midi file can be played on any device that can play midi files. That includes things like other arranger keyboards and computers. You can download midi files from many sites on the internet, midi files that were created by a wide variety of instruments or software, and then play the files on your computer or on your Yamaha keyboard. As a result, you have access to thousands of songs that can be loaded as midi files and played on your Yamaha keyboard.
There is a catch, however. If you have recorded a midi file, saved it, and then tried to play it on your computer, you may have been dismayed at how different it sounded from your original wonderful recording. What's wrong? When you recorded the song, you used a beautiful tenor sax voice that is built into your keyboard. On the computer, however, that voice wasn't anything like what you heard on the Yamaha. That's because the midi standard said to play a tenor sax voice and your computer played a "generic" tenor sax sound -- it does not have the sound engine that is in your Yamaha keyboard. So the "voices" you hear from your computer will not sound like the voices in your Yamaha. In fact, it is the excellent instrument voices in the Yamaha arranger keyboards that make them so attractive.
However, if you play a midi file created on another Yamaha keyboard and play it in your keyboard, it will sound like it did in the original. Similarly, you may find that even midi files created on a computer using a sequencing program will sound great on your Yamaha because they are playing the voices that are provided by the Yamaha sound engine.
MIDI Files in This Collection
There are thousands of midi files available in the PSR Tutorial midi archives from the various PSR Performers. These files are all performed on PSR or Tyros keyboards. But there are also many thousands of midi files that can be obtained from various internet sources.
Over the years, a number of internet midi sites have disappeared and it is becoming more difficult to find midi songs. However, thanks to several PSR Tutorial members, I have been able to compile a large library of 22,576 midi files that will give all you midi fans plenty of songs to listen to and explore.
I have divided the midi collection into five groups, reflecting the source of the midi files.
Freddie's Collection
The late Freddie Maynell compiled a very large collection of about 12,500 midi files that he provided to the PSR Tutorial before he passed away in 2011. These included both mid and kar files and many had lyrics. Freddie's collection is provided in alphabetical sub-folders with the filenames that show the artist followed by the song name.
Flip's Collection
John 'Flip' Phillips provided his collection of midi files. I omitted duplicates and then added John's collection to this midi library. There are 474 files in this set. Songs are organized into 6 folders: 50s Lyrics, 60s Lyrics, 70s Lyrics, Alpha Performers, Happy Hour, and Lady Favorites w/Lyrics.
Jeff's Collection
A third collection is from Jeff, who is an ardent "collector" of midi and style files. There are 3,715 songs in this collection. The songs are organized both by artist as well as by song title for your convenience, thus there are 7,404 total songs in this set. You may only want to keep one of these organizational options.
Doug's Songs
Finally, there are 313 excellent midi songs from Jazz pianist Doug MacKenzie. These are piano renditions recorded on his Yamaha P-250 piano. If you would like to duplicate Doug's performance, you can go to his web site where transcriptions of the songs are available and you can learn to play them just like this talented jazz pianist. Doug also provides a number of video tutorials at his site and you can order a DVD that includes the videos as well as the song transcriptions.
PSR Performer Songs
I have included 5,716 songs from our PSR Performer midi files. In this collection, the songs are organized alphabetically by song title, similar to the midi index you find on the site. The file names show the song title in mixed case followed by a 2-letter abbreviation of the performer's name, a 2-digit number representing the volume number, and a 2-digit code representing the keyboard the song was recorded on. For example, "TheseFoolishThings-SM013k.mid" represents the song These Foolish Things, recorded by Steve Molnar's Volume 1, produced with a PSR-3000.
The tables below show you the 2-letter abbreviations used for performers and for keyboards.
Abb | Performer | Abb | Performer | Abb | Performer | Abb | Performer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AG | Alex Green | EL | Eileen Lowry | JF | Joe Francis | PA | Patricia Harman |
AK | Alex Kruger | EM | Ernie Mulder | JG | James Gracey | PH | Phil Hall |
AP | Alan Paganelli | ES | Eddie Shoemaker | JJ | James Hunter | PJ | Paul Jackson |
BB | Bob Boyd | FA | Francisco Albuquerque | JK | Jannie Kroese | PZ | Pauline Z |
BC | Ben Corsetti | FB | Frank Blecha | JP | Jaap Poetsma | RH | Richard Herzog |
BG | Bob Gelman | FP | John Phillips | JR | John Radford | RJ | Ron Jubenville |
BH | Brian Haylett | FT | Franco Tancredi | JS | Judy Short | RL | Robert Lauzon |
BM | Bruce Milne | GH | Gloria Hanson | JV | John Vishnoff | RM | Bob McKinney |
BV | Bill Venice | GK | Gary Kilby | JW | Joe Waters | RP | Richard Peck |
CB | Chris Bell | HA | John Haddleton | KS | Ken Stenzel | SH | Sunny Haddleton |
CC | Cynthia Cooke | HB | Harry BrownRigg | LG | Larry Gard | SM | Stephen Molnar |
CE | Clem Ebber | HE | Hal Eaton | LM | Laura Remson Mitchell | SP | Peter Hindley |
CH | Chuck Hunt | HK | Heikki Kähkölä | LW | Larry Warner | TA | Ton Anthonie |
DB | David Bate | HM | Deane Peters | MC | Bill McCracken | TG | Torben Goldin |
DE | Dave Edwards | HP | Patrick Hannequin | MG | Marcelo Gaspar | VA | Vince Andreone |
DH | Dennis Hooker | HS | Hermann Schunk | MM | Michael MacDonald | WM | Bill Mulholland |
DK | Del Kay | JC | Julio Cazes | MZ | Mike Szmania | WP | Warren Peters |
DL | David Laplante | JE | Jerry Ernst | NS | Neal Saunders | WS | Will Stewart |
Abb | Keyboard | Abb | Keyboard | Abb | Keyboard | Abb | Keyboard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T4 | Tyros4 | 91 | PSR-S910 | T3 | Tyros3 | S9 | PSR-S900 |
T2 | Tyros2 | 3k | PSR-3000 | 15 | PSR-1500 | 21 | PSR-2100 |
11 | PSR-1100 | T1 | Tyros | 2k | PSR-2000 | 9P | 9000Pro |
35 | PSR-350 | 9k | PSR-9000 | 74 | PSR-740 | 73 | PSR-730 |
63 | PSR-630 | C2 | CVP-209 | C3 | CVP-309 | C4 | CVP-409 |
All told, there are over 22,576 unique midi files in this collection of MIDI files. 1,412 songs include the lyrics in the midi file. Plenty here to keep every midi fan busy for quite some time.
Additional Files
I was able to generate the statistics on how many midi files there are in this library by using Peter Wierzba's Midi Database V4.4 program. Peter's Style Database is very useful in organizing your style collections. So, too, is his Midi Database if you want to organize your midi collections. The "Utility" folder that is included with this collection has the latest version of the Midi Database. Peter does update his programs on occasion. Check Peter's web site for more information on these databases and to check for any more recent updates.
Another useful program for working with MIDI files is Michael Bedesem's MidiPlayer. I have included that program and the latest update (Ver 8.3.0) in the Utilities folder. Visit Michael's MidiPlayer page on the web site for more information on what you can do with MidiPlayer and to see if any newer updates are available.
Joe Waters
March, 2012
This page updated on September 29, 2024.
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