Yamaha Playcards

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The Yamaha Playcard system is a method of storing music information, rather like modern-day MIDI files, on a magnetic stripe along the edge of a large (a little smaller than A4-sized) card. The card is swiped through a slot on compatible Yamaha keyboards, which read the music data from the magnetic stripe into RAM ready for playback.

The format first appeared around 1982, probably just before the Casio ROM Pack feature appeared, but seemed to disappear only two years later, while Casio's system was still alive into the early 1990s. Several Playcard-compatible keyboard models were made, but far fewer than there were Casio models supporting ROM Packs; the Playcard format seemed to have been much more short-lived. The Playcard technology was never licensed to any other manufacturer.

As well as just listening to the music, Playcard keyboards had various training modes to teach you to play the tunes, using flashing LEDs above each key to guide you - very similar to the Casio ROM Pack training modes.

The orchestration of the Playcard music is also very similar to that of the Casio system, consisting of a monophonic melody channel and a so-called "obbligato" channel (providing a counter-melody or harmony), both of which play simultaneously with the keyboard's built-in rhythm and auto-accompaniment, with programmed chord changes, fill-ins etc. This makes Playcard music sound very much like Casio ROM Pack music.

Playcards can be double sided, with two magnetic stripes, one on each side of the card. After the first side is swiped, the keyboard's indicator light flashes rapidly to show that the other side should now be swiped to load the remainder of the tune into memory. This permits longer tunes to be stored in RAM than will fit on a single magnetic stripe. In case you were wondering, it does not matter which of the two sides is swiped first; the keyboard sorts this out internally and the tune always plays correctly. If you only swipe one side and fail to swipe the other side, the keyboard does nothing (it behaves as if no card has been swiped). While I have some Playcards that are physically double-sided, each side of these cards is scanned and played separately as if it were a separate card. The only Playcards I know of that actually use the "double-sided" feature are Japanese cards sold only in Japan.

Unlike the Casio system, there was no recordable equivalent of the Playcard - they were a read-only medium.

Playcards are quite fragile and can easily be damaged physically, or by exposure to magentic fields, rendering them unreadable. They should be kept well away from loudspeakers, mobile phones and other sources of magnetic fields. Unlike Casio's ROM Pack system which seems very robust, I have come across a few Playcards that are either unreliable or simply don't work at all.

What Keyboards support Playcards?

The following Yamaha keyboard models are known to support Playcards: PC-50, PC-100, PC-1000, PCS-30, PCS-500 and PCR-800. The CN-1000 and MR-1 organs also support Playcards. There may be others as well.

Only the PC-100 is relatively common, and appears quite frequently on eBay. Other models seem quite rare and only crop up on eBay very occasionally - another indicator that the Playcard system may not have been as successful as the rival Casio system, even though it probably came out first.

The Playcard system should not be confused with similarly-named systems found on other Yamaha keyboards. See Other Keyboard Media for details.

Playcard Reader for MSX Computer System

Yamaha also made a Playcard system for the MSX computer. This consisted of a Program cartridge, to which a separate Playcard Reader module was connected via a short wire. When used with a standard MSX computer, the MSX's internal AY-3-891x three-channel sound chip was used to play the Playcard music, offering only the melody, obbligato and bass channels.

The basic "Playcard Set" contained only the UPA-01 Program cartridge and CR-01 Playcard Reader, but an optional FM Sound Synthesizer unit could be added, which would give a fully-orchestrated 5-channel performance, similar to that given by a keyboard. Yamaha's own CX5M MSX computer (and later derivatives) contained a built-in FM Synthesizer unit which worked in the same way.

It was also possible to add the optional YK-01 Keyboard to the system, which enabled the usual set of Playcard training modes, exactly as found on stand-alone keyboards, and also turned the MSX system into a full-featured manual keyboard, complete with auto accompaniment. These apparently used a proprietary interface to connect to the Synthesizer Unit, and standard MIDI keyboards could not be used.

The system allows a number of Playcards to be scanned and stored in RAM, then played sequentially as a kind of Playcard Jukebox - something that is not possible with stand-alone keyboards. An MSX with 16KB can store two tunes at once, while a 32KB model can store an additional 16 tunes, so a total of 18 tunes can be stored. This suggests that each Playcard holds up to 1KB of music data.

The MSX Playcard Set is very scarce. If you do find one on eBay you will need a fat wallet.

Although Casio did make several MSX computers, I know of no similar system for reading ROM Packs on the MSX, or any other computer system.

What Playcards were available?

The set supplied with the PC-100 contains 12 cards: 9 to 5 (Morning Train), Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, Aloha Oe, Greensleeves, Cielito Lindo, Summertime, Night Fever, When the Saints go Marching In, Killing Me Softly With His Song, I Could have Danced All Night, Take the "A" Train.

The PCS-30 was also supplied with 12 cards: Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, Aloha Oe, Green Sleeves, Nocturne Op.9-2, Summertime, When The Saints Go Marching In, I Could Have Danced All Night, Take The 'A' Train, Memory, We're All Alone and Aquarela Do Brazil. These were housed in a green cardboard sleeve, and although many of the titles are the same as those supplied with the PC-100, the musical arrangements are quite different.

Some (later?) PCS-30 keyboards were supplied with a reduced set of only 6 cards: Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, Summertime, When the Saints Go Marching In, I Could Have Danced All Night and Memory. These came in a blue cardboard sleeve rather than a green one, but the six cards are identical to those from the set of 12.

The keyboards were also supplied with a Head Cleaning card, which had a strip of fabric in place of the magnetic tape. It seems unlikely that the head would ever become dirty enough to require this, though.

Additional Playcards were sold in sets of six, and at least 40 such sets were made, plus at least three "Step-By-Step Learning" sets.

One of my sets of Playcards still has its original price sticker attached; it sold for £4.95 in Fox's Music Centre in Nottingham, UK - a shop which still exists at the time of writing.

Some examples are listed below. I have also seen a reference to a set entitled "Popular Hits 6" on eBay, but I am not sure whether this was a typo or not, so this set may or may not have existed. If you can fill in any missing information, please let me know. (Please note that I do not own all of the Playcard sets on this list):

Ref. No.	Set Title	Tunes	Comments
17-541	Playcard 1: The Best of The Beatles	Let It Be Michelle Here, There and Everywhere Hey Jude The Long And Winding Road Lady Madonna
17-542	Playcard 2: Abba Songs	Dancing Queen One Of Us That's Me Summer Night City The Winner Takes It All Tiger
17-543	Playcard 3: The Best of Richard Clayderman	Ballade Pour Adeline Lyphard Melodie Concerto Pour Une Jeune Fille Nommee "Je T'aime" Souvenirs D'enfance Voyage a Venise Serenade de L'etoile
17-544	Playcard 4: The Screen Themes	Star Trek Love Story Moon River Theme from The Godfather Ready To Take A Chance Again A Time For Us
17-545	Playcard 5: Great Standards 1	Night And Day Days of Wine and Roses As Time Goes By Softly As In A Morning Sunrise 'Round Midnight The Summer Knows (Theme from Summer of '42)
17-546	Playcard 6: Great Standards 2	Ebb Tide Over The Rainbow The Shadow Of Your Smile Singin' In The Rain Somewhere My Love It Was A Good Time
17-547	Playcard 7: Popular Hits 1	Arthur's Theme Antonio's Song Him Upside Down Can't Smile Without You Good-Bye Girl
17-548	Playcard 8: Latin Favorites 1	La Cucaracha La Chapanecas Maria Elena Aquarela Do Brasil Besame Mucho La Paloma
17-549	Playcard 9: Latin Favorites 2	El Reloj Adoro La Bamba Quien Sara La Cumparasita El Choclo
17-550	Playcard 10: Favorite Disney Songs	Someday My Price Will Come It's A Small World Feed The Birds Chim Chim Cheree Mickey Mouse March When You Wish Upon A Star
17-551	Playcard 11: Easy Classics 1	On The Beautiful Blue Danube Dance Of The Hours Symphony No. 40, G min, K550 Swan Lake Minuet Cradle Song
17-552	Playcard 12: Popular Hits 2	Bette Davis Eyes Guilty You Needed Me Breezin' Feel Like Makin' Love I Write The Songs
17-553	Playcard 13: Popular Hits 3	Don't Cry Out Loud Heartbreaker Making Love Modern Girl Shadows In The Moonlight Woman In Love
17-554	Playcard 14: Popular Hits 4	Endless Love For Your Eyes Only This Masquerade Just The Way You Are Physical Private Eyes
17-555	Playcard 15: Great Standards 3	In The Mood Charade Fly Me To The Moon This Guy's In Love With You Jambalaya By The Time I Get To Phoenix
17-556	Playcard 16: Easy Classics 2	Ode to Joy The Waves of the Danube Nocturne Air From Orchestral Suite No. 3 Plume in the Summer Wind Slavonic March
17-557	Playcard 17: Christmas Songs 1	Silent Night Jingle Bells Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town Joy To The World O Come All Ye Faithful
17-558	Playcard 18: The Best of John Denver	Back Home Again Follow Me Leaving On A Jet Plane Rocky Mountain High Sunshine On My Shoulders Take Me Home (Country Roads)
17-559	Playcard 19: The Best of Paul McCartney	Band On The Run Ebony and Ivory Jet Listen To What The Man Said My Love Silly Love Songs
17-560	Playcard 20: Jazz Standards	Tenderly Body And Soul My Funny Valentine I Left My Heart In San Francisco You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves)
17-561	Playcard 21: Christmas Songs 2	The Christmas Song Frosty The Snowman Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Here Comes Santa Claus Les Anges Dans Nos Campagne O Tannenbaum
17-562	Playcard 22: Great Standards 4	Sunny Love Is Blue People The Third Man Theme Till Try To Remember
17-563	Playcard 23: The Best of Elvis Presley	All Shook Up Can't Help Falling In Love Crying in the Chapel I Want You, I Need You, I Love You Jailhouse Rock Love Me Tender
17-564	Playcard 24: The Best of The Beach Boys 1	California Girls Fun, Fun, Fun Good Vibrations Help Me Rhonda I Get Around Wouldn't It Be Nice
17-565	Playcard 25: The Best of The Carpenters	I Won't Last Another Day Without You Only Yesterday Rainy Days and Mondays Top Of The World We've Only Just Begun Yesterday Once More
17-566	Playcard 26: Broadway Musical 1 (My Fair Lady)	Get Me To The Church On Time The Rain in Spain I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face On The Street Where You Live With A Little Bit Of Luck Wouldn't It Be Lovely
17-567	Playcard 27: Broadway Musical 2 (Annie)	Easy Street I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here It's The Hard-Knock Life Maybe Tomorrow You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile
17-568	Playcard 28: The Best of Barry Manilow	Copacabana Even Now I Made It Through The Rain Ships Weekend in New England When I Wanted You
17-569	Playcard 29: The Best of Billy Joel	Don't Ask Me Why Honestly It's Still Rock and Roll To Me My Life Piano Man She's Always A Woman
17-570	Playcard 30: Mixed Pops 1	The Dock Of The Bay Give Me The Night I Am A Woman I Go To Rio An Old Fashioned Love Song Windy
17-571	Playcard 31: Sing Along Favorites	Brother John Auld Lang Syne Happy Birthday To You You Are My Sunshine Michael, Row The Boat Ashore Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home
17-572	Playcard 32: Gospel 1	Peace In The Valley He Turn Your Radio On Wings of a Dove How Great Thou Art Whither Thou Goest
17-573	Playcard 33: Country & Western 1	Nobody Likes Sad Songs Release Me Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town Little Green Apples Crazy Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
17-574	Playcard 34: The Best of Hank Williams	Cold, Cold Heart I Saw The Light I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Hey, Good Lookin' You Win Again Your Cheatin' Heart
17-575	Playcard 35: Swing Time 1	Honeysuckle Rose I'm Beginning To See The Light It's Only A Paper Moon All Of Me Moonglow You Turned The Tables On Me
17-576	Playcard 36: Hawaiian Favorites 1	Now Is The Hour The Hawaiian Wedding Song Sleepy Lagoon Pearly Shells Tiny Bubbles Quiet Village
17-577	Playcard 37: Country & Western 2	Any Time Bouquet of Roses Candy Kisses Detour I Really Don't Want to Know Green Green Grass of Home
17-578	Playcard 38: Polka 1	Lichtensteiner Polka There Is A Tavern In The Town Pennsylvania Polka Peanuts Polka Beer Barrel Polka Village Tavern Polka
17-579	Playcard 39: Female Vocalist's [sic] Hits 1	Blessed Are The Believers / Anne Murray Deja Vu / Dionne Warwick Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress) / Helen Reddy Somebody's Knockin' / Terry Gibbs What Kind Of Fool / Barbra Streisand My Heart Belongs To Me / Barbra Streisand
17-581	Playcard 41: Screen Themes 2	Far From Over Maniac Star Trek III - the Search for Spock Terms of Endearment The Summer Knows Up Where We Belong	Thanks to Susan Herrera for the information about this set.
17-583	Playcard 43: Children's Songs	Der Fuchs Sur Le Pont d'Avignon Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Swanee River Yankee Doodle Camptown Races
17-584	Playcard 44: Popular Standards 2	Autumn In New York It's Only a Paper Moon Misty Someone To Watch Over Me Stella by Starlight Wives and Lovers
17-614	Easy Playcard	Chim Chim Cheree Little Brown Jug Moon River When The Saints Go Marchin' In Dancing Queen Londonderry Air
17-674	Step-By-Step Learning Playcard 1	Exercise 1 - Up and Down Exercise 2 - Skip Exercise 3 - For Both Hands 1 Exercise 4 - For Both Hands 2 Exercise 5 - Short Scale Exercise 6 - A Melody	Each card is double-sided, but the sides are used independently.
17-675	Step-By-Step Learning Playcard 2	Exercise 1 / Finger Drill Exercise 2 / Waltz Exercise 3 / London Bridge Exercise 4 / Michael Row the Boat Exercise 5 / Jingle Bells Exercise 6 / Ode to Joy Auto Bass Chord System Guide	Set apparently contains seven cards: six exercise cards, and an Auto Bass Chord System Guide card. Thanks to Susan Herrera for the additional information on this set.
17-688	Step-By-Step Learning Playcard 3	Exercise 1 / Daisy's Waltz Exercise 2 / Long Long Ago Exercise 3 / Ghost Samba Exercise 4 / The Covered Wagon is Coming Exercise 5 / Walking Cat Blues Exercise 6 / Gavotte	Thanks to Susan Herrera for the additional information on this set.
17-691	Deutsche Stimmungslieder	Schützenliesl Anuschka Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins Ja, mir san mit'n Radl da So ein Tag, so wunderschön wie heute Eviva España	Probably available only in Germany. Thanks to Sascha Heiland for the information.
34-100	Yamaha PCS-30 Lesson and Learning Pack [Japanese]	Step 1 - How to Use Your Fingers Step 2 - Melody Parade Step 3 - Little Brown Jug Step 4 - Sazaesan Step 5 - Do-Re-Mi Step 6 - Lover's Concerto Step 7 - Sound of Music Step 8 - Shiretoko Ryojyou Step 9 - Namida no Request Step 10 - Iihi Tabidachi Step 11 - Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da Step 12 - Sweet Memory	12 single-sided Playcards and a head-cleaning card in a booklet. Probably supplied with the PCS-30 Keyboard in Japan.
34-051	Playcard 51: [Japanese]	no Bara no Echiyudo Invitation Second Love Kohaku Iro no Omoide Koibito mo Nureru Machikado Long Distance Call	Packaged in a booklet. Set title unknown.
34-010	Playcard 10: Popular 3 [Japanese]	Ballade Pour Adeline Nocturne Penelope Souvenirs D'enfance Music Box Dancer 13 Jours En France
------	Matsuda Seiko [Japanese]	Garasu no Ringo Sweet Memories Rock'n Rouge Jikan no Kuni no Alice Tengoku no Kiss Hitomi Ha Diamond	6 Matsuda Seiko songs. Original set title unknown.