Yamaha QY series

The Yamaha QY series is a line of MIDI sequencers with integrated tone generators, or MIDI workstations, made by Yamaha. Most of them are highly portable devices, dubbed "walkstations" in some Yamaha marketing.

The QY series' sequencing generally has a heavy emphasis on "styles" and "patterns" similar to those used for auto-accompaniment on arranger keyboards.

Notable models

Portable sequencers

• The Yamaha QY10 was the first in the series, released in 1991. It is a portable battery-powered sequencer roughly the same size as a VHS tape, featuring a non-backlit 1×16 character LCD screen, MIDI in and out ports, and 3.5mm stereo line out. It has 8 parts, 32-voice polyphony, 31 melodic instrument sounds and 26 drum/percussion sounds.
• The Yamaha QY20, released in 1992, improved upon the QY10 by introducing a large 128×64 graphic display with an interface similar to the Yamaha TG series, 16-part multitimbrality, 100 preset melodic instrument sounds, and 100 preset drum sounds (across 8 drumkits). It is also partially General MIDI-compatible.
• The Yamaha QY8, released in 1994, is a smaller, cheaper, simplified model with a custom (not graphic or character) LCD and no micro-keyboard. Like the QY20 it features partial GM compatibility.
• The Yamaha QY22 was the first to be fully General MIDI-compatible, released in 1995, but is otherwise only a minor upgrade over the QY20.
• The Yamaha QY70 is the first to feature Yamaha XG support, released in 1997. It has 24-part multitimbrality (8 parts reserved for the pattern track), 519 preset melodic instrument sounds, 20 drumkits, and can be connected to a computer via a TO HOST port.
• The Yamaha QY100, released in 2000, adds more presets, an audio input for guitar amp simulation and microphone effects, a foot switch input, and a SmartMedia card slot.<ref>Differences Between a QY70 and QY100 (Yamaha FAQ article)<?ref>

Desktop sequencers

• Yamaha QY300 (TODO)
• Yamaha QY700 (TODO)