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Expansion packs are a fantastic feature to allow you to keep the sounds and styles on your Genos fresh and interesting, and, as of this year, Yamaha have released a plethora of expansion packs available to download for free.
However, the process of loading expansion packs into the Yamaha Genos can seem a bit daunting at first, so this guide aims to help alleviate any confusion with the process.
Finding the right packs for you
All of Yamaha’s official expansion packs can be found on the Yamaha Music Soft website. From here you can purchase and download all the packs you want to install onto the your Genos.
When you download the packs they will be saved within a .zip folder on your computer. You will then need to ‘unzip‘ then in order to move onto the next step. You can do this by right clicking the folder, and selecting ‘Extract‘.
This should then create an unzipped folder in which you can access the .cpf or .ppi files inside.
As many packs have been created to be used with more than one instrument, please make sure the file you download is for your particular keyboard.
Yamaha Expansion Manager
Expansion pack files on their own cannot be loaded into the Genos directly, and as such need to be turned into a ‘Pack Installation File‘.
Luckily, Yamaha have a developed a piece of software for this called ‘Expansion Manager‘, available for both Windows and Apple Mac computers alike, which you can download from their website. This allows you to combine all the packs into a single install file which you can load straight into the Genos.
Once you have installed the software, the first thing you need to do before you can install your packs is to extract the Genos’ instrument info file, as without this, you will not be able to create an install file.
Step 1:
To do this, simply insert a USB into either the front or rear USB port of the Genos (not the one on the underside), unless there is one connected to either of these ports already.
Step 2:
With a USB inserted press the ‘Menu’ button twice (to open the ‘Menu 2‘ screen), and then select ‘Expansion‘ on the screen (located at the bottom left).
From here you can select ‘Export instrument info’ , and then simply press ‘OK‘ twice.
Step 3:
There should now be a file saved onto the USB stick called ‘Genos_InstrumentInfo.n27‘. Now remove the USB and insert it into your computer.
Step 4:
Open up Yamaha Expansion Manager and click the ‘+’ button next to ‘Install Target‘.
Then click on ‘Import Instrument Info‘, and locate the .n27 file saved on the USB.
Your Genos’ unique instrument code should now be loaded into Expansion Manager, and a ‘Genos’ install target should appear on the left hand side.
With an instrument loaded, Yamaha Expansion Manager will now let you load in the relevant packs you want to install into the Genos. To load in your packs simply click the ‘+’ button next to ‘My Packs’, and then select ‘Import Pack‘.
From here, you can locate and select all the packs you want to install into the Genos.
Creating an Installation File
Now you got all the packs you want loaded into Expansion Manager, it’s time to create an installation file.
Step 1:
Select the ‘Genos’ install target in expansion manager, and wait until it has finished an initial compiling of the packs.
This will automatically select all the loaded packs to be included in the install file. You can deselect/select packs individually by clicking the tick icon on each one.
You will also notice at the top of the window, Expansion Manager shows the final size of the file, along with the maximum file size the Genos can accept. From experience I would recommend to stay under 70% of the maximum accepted file size if you’re able to.
Step 2
With all the packs you want selected, click on the ‘Save as Pack Install‘ button (which for some reason is always partially obscured the the adjacent button).
This will then open a window allowing you to save the install file. Generally I save the file directly onto the USB stick I will use to install the packs, however it may be useful to save the file onto your computer first should you ever need to use it again.
Step 3
Whenever you create an install file, Expansion Manager always give it the default name ‘Genos_PackInstallData‘, so it may be wise to rename it to something which reflects what’s in the pack, as to distinguish it from other install files.
Now you may also notice that you have the option to save your install file in two different file types, a ‘Pack Quick Installation File (.cqi)’, or a standard ‘Pack Installation File (.cpi)’.
Now from my own experience, when loading large install files for a Genos I have found the Quick Installation File (.cqi) to be more suitable. However, if you are looking to install packs into an SX700 or SX900, then the standard Pack Installation File (.cpi) is far more reliable, as I have come across some issues in getting the Quick Installation File to load in properly.
Installing your Expansion Packs
Something which is very important to note: whenever you install new Expansion Packs into a Genos or SX keyboard, any existing Packs will be erased. So make sure you have included any existing packs you want to keep in your Install File.
Step 1
Now you have your install file saved onto USB, eject the USB from your computer and insert it into either the front or rear USB port on the Genos.
Like before, go onto Menu 2, and then select ‘Expansion‘
Step 2
Now, select ‘Pack Installation‘, and locate your Install File.
Step 3
Select your Install File, and then select ‘OK‘ for the following prompts
A window that says ‘Executing’ will now show on the screen, with a progress bar. The time it takes for the packs to install will depend on the number of packs and the size of the install file.
Step 4
Once finished, the Genos will show a window confirming the completion of the install, with an ‘OK‘ prompt to restart the Genos. Select this and wait for the Genos to restart.
When it has booted up, your expansion packs will be installed!
How to find Expansion Pack Content
To find expansion voices, you can find these by going into the voice selection menu by pressing one of the four black voice selection buttons on the right hand side of the Genos.
From here, select the ‘User‘ button at the top of the page, and then select the ‘Expansion‘ menu.
All the individual packs will be located here in separate folders.
To find styles / registrations, its almost exactly same. Simply press the Registration Bank + and – buttons at the same time to open the registration selection menu, and then select the ‘User‘ button at the top of the page.
Like before you will find all the packs in the ‘Expansion‘ section in the User menu.
I hope you found this blog useful. Take care everyone!
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Comments:
Thank you Sam that was very helpful have watched many videos on YT but somehow never seemed to get I right having your information on phone and working through each stage I finally managed to have success thank again Paul an ePianos Genos customer
Thank you Sam, at last a concise understandable tutorial..Could I ask you to cover connecting an ipad/phone to both Wifi and Bluetooth and what would be he advantages
Kind Regards Phil
How do you save all existing packs / data to the usb before installing new expansion packs onto the Genos.
I have installed new expansion packs in the past, for my wife but I deleted all pre installed data at the same.
Can you please assist, I am not a keyboard player so any instructions will need to be simple. 😊
Can SMF’s be loaded into a Yamaha Modex7 and played back?