Yamaha PSR-550

Important Features

GM System Level 1

“GM System Level 1” is an addition to the MIDI standard

which guarantees that any data conforming to the standard will

play accurately on any GM-compatible tone generator or

synthesizer from any manufacturer.

XG is a new Yamaha MIDI specification which significantly

expands and improves on the GM System Level 1 standard

with greater voice handling capacity, expressive control and

effect capability while retaining full compatibility with GM.

By using the PSR-550’s XG voices, it is possible to record

XG-compatible song files.

DOC

The DOC voice allocation format provides data playback

compatibility with a wide range of Yamaha instruments and

MIDI devices, including the Clavinova series.

Style File Format

The Style File Format — SFF — is Yamaha’s original style

file format which uses a unique conversion system to provide

high-quality automatic accompaniment based on a wide range

of chord types. The PSR-550 uses the SFF internally, reads

optional SFF style disks, and creates SFF styles using the

Style Recording feature.

Digital Effects

• A comprehensive set of professional-sounding digital

effects are built into the PSR-550, letting you enhance the

sound of your performance in a wide variety of ways.

These include Reverb, Chorus, DSP and Harmony/Echo.

(→ Page 46)

* Reverb recreates the rich spacial ambiance of various

performance environments, such as a concert hall or a

night club. (→ Page 46)

* Chorus enriches the voices by making them sound

warmer and thicker — as if several instruments were

playing together at the same time. (→ Page 48)

* The DSP effects let you process the sound in special,

unusual ways — such as applying distortion or tremolo

to a specific part. (→ Page 49)

* Harmony/Echo lets you enhance your right-hand

melodies with a variety of harmony and echo effects.

(→ Page 50)

Disk Drive

• The PSR-550 also features a built-in disk drive that lets

you save all your important original data (such as User

songs, User styles, User Multi Pads, Registration Memory,

etc.) to floppy disk for future recall. (→ Page 57)

MIDI

• MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a worldwide

standard interface that allows various electronic music

instruments, computers and other devices to communi-

cate with each other. The MIDI features let you

seamlessly integrate the PSR-550 into a variety of

systems and applications:

* Play other instruments from the PSR-550. (→ Page

108)

* Play the sounds of the PSR-550 (including the auto

accompaniment) from a connected keyboard. (→ Page

108)

* Connect the PSR-550 directly to a computer, for

advanced recording, editing and playing back of song

data. (→ Page 110)

* Use pre-programmed templates to instantly configure

the PSR-550 for your specific MIDI system/application.

(→ Page 112)

Panel logos

The logos printed on the PSR-550 panel indicate standards/

formats it supports and special features it includes.

Music stand

The PSR-550 is supplied with a music stand that can be attached

to the instrument by inserting it into the slot at the rear of the

control panel.