Any love for Yamaha Motif here?

[DrGonzo]

I am currently very close to buy one of those MOXF workstations. Anyone with some hands-on experience with the Motifs here? Sounds bloody fantastic from what I've heard.

/C

[Musical Gym]

I've use the Motif 8 for many years pretty much as my sole keyboard controller. On-board sounds and functionality are good, but nowadays I use it mainly as controller. I also have Yamaha EX5r which has fantastic sounds and resources.
Check out motifator.com and ex5tech.com if you don't' know about those sites.

[Alfalfa]

I bought an s90es about a month ago, and I love the sounds. I bought it primarily for the keybed, but I like the sounds a lot, too. The MOXF8 has a different keybed from the 88-key motifs and s90 series. The MOXF8 has a keybed like the Yamaha P-115 or P-45. I've read people say that it does not have all the effects of the Motif. Now that I have an s90es, I think that, even if so, the effect of fewer effects will be limited to the rarest patch, and even at that, it might make little difference. In other words, IMO, the sound of the Motif resides largely in the sounds themselves, and not as much in the effects. And when the effects matter, I think the MOXF8 will probably be identical or so close that it's a great value. Especially with the USB audio. Now, if you're in the U.S., you can get a Motif for a large sale price at Guitar Center through the end of April (they have their sale price, with a coupon from Yamaha for a few hundred dollars off). Problems with the Motif is there is no USB audio interface built-in. You can buy a firewire interface card for a few hundred dollars, though.

For me, the s90es has changed what I want from my software, and I'm thinking of buying more hardware. It's nice to stop trying to squeeze a hardware workstation out of my virtual instruments.

[DrGonzo]

It's nice to stop trying to squeeze a hardware workstation out of my virtual instruments.

This is exactly the reason why I am looking at buying one myself. It's just such a pleasure to switch on an instrument and just play - and not be concerned about loading the right sample library to your plugin.

[iPlogger]

I used to play an S90XS. Then I got a RackXS. And two years ago switched to the MOXF6. It's been fantastic for me. Do you have any questions regarding the MOXF?

Someone mentioned it is missing some effects. The higher end Motifs got a firmware upgrade that included a few new effects.

[Alfalfa]

How is the keybed on the moxf6? I couldn't find one to test it. I read a complaint or two about it, but that is so subjective, and the complaints were not substantive, so I was just left guessing. Do you like the feel of the keys? What are they comparable to? Thanks

[VitaminD]

As Alfalfa has mentioned, the keybed is different in the S90 models from the 'lower' ones.. it would be a smart thing to try them out if you possibly can in a store or if you know someone that owns one if key feel is important to you.

The S90 has a more 'piano' weight to the keys.. they respond much closer to a piano than the MOX6 (which has a more 'synth action' light almost flimsy key) for instance. Haven't tried a MOXF though..

Instant access is a nice feature for such a keyboard.. sometimes you don't want to fool with a computer.

[surreal]

I love my Motif ES 7... workhorse delux!!

[iPlogger]

The MOXF6 keybed is fairly plastic and synthy feeling. I switched from a Korg 01/wfd which had a somewhat stronger tug to them. At first I did not like the keybed of the MOXF6. It felt way too easy to press. Also, I believe the key widths are slightly decreased from normal. If I remember, it took me two or three days to kind of settle in and get comfortable with it. Now, I don't think twice about the feel. I'm just used to it.

I do highly recommend trying it out first, though. I have definitely read of many people dismissing the MOXF6 due to the keybed. For me, though, the lightweight keyboard was such a high priority, I was willing to accept the feel. I had been using the Korg, a 49 Key keyboard, a 4-item rack and a 16 channel mixer live and bringing to practice. I was done and looking to save my back and setup time. For 1.5 years, I used just the MOXF6. Only in the last few months, I started using softsynths. Since the MOXF contains a built-in USB MIDI/Audio interface, I just hook up my laptop/tablet (Microsoft Surface Pro 3) with a USB cable. Still, extremely lightweight and no need for my mixer. I sometimes used an iPad, too.

[DrGonzo]

Can anyone briefly explain to me how arpeggios are working?

As far as I understood, a sound can contain a number of arpeggios - but is it possible to change sound and keep the arpeggio? And is it possible to make/import your own?

/C

[Mushy Mushy]

Damn you Gonzo, I've now added a Motif to my eBay search

[iPlogger]

Yes, you can create your own arpeggios. You use the built-in sequencer to create a pattern. Then you write the pattern to the user arpeggio data. I can't recall, but there may be 128 user arp slots available. I haven't done much with user arps, and it's been awhile since I've used that feature, so I don't recall exactly how it all works. But I think they are always based on a pattern. I don't think you can take a voice and simply turn on a switch for 'up arp' or 'play as chords'.

Each Voice and Performance can have up to six different arps assigned to it. It's a pretty easy system. You tap the button for which arp to use. There is an option to define whether the arp switches as soon as you select the new button, or if the current pattern finishes out first and THEN switches. There is also an Arp On/Off switch should you decide to turn off the arp. I sometimes do this with some rhythmic/gated sounds. Then I can choose to have sustained notes if I feel like it.

When switching voices, the old voice will always cut out immediately. So even if you have two voices programmed to use the same arp, switching to the 2nd voice will cause a glitch. So the option for you is to use Mixing Mode. Mixing Mode is kind of like a 16 track sequencer. You can assign different voices on each of the 16 tracks. So lets say you have Voice1 on Track1 and Voice2 on Track2. You can be playing Voice1 and then hit the button for Track2 to immediately start playing Voice 2. I have never tried this. It may take some getting used to timing things correctly. So I do warn you, it may not be ideal. If you have a 2nd keyboard, it's possible maybe you can play Voice1 on the Yamaha, and switch to the 2nd Keyboard for playing Voice2.

One thing to note regarding Mixing Mode, the voices are not necessarily going to sound 100% the same. This is a common complaint people have. The really nice thing about Mixing Mode is you can switch voices without having them cutoff. It's very helpful when playing live. Where the difference comes in is Mixing Mode shares a global effect across all the tracks. A voices INSERTION effects remain as they are in the Voice, but I believe the System Effect is shared across all the tracks. A System Effect is thought of as an environment for your sound. So, your Voice1 may have a Reverb System Effect and Voice2 may have a Delay. In this case, you can't have both. Sometimes, it may take a bit of reprogramming. Perhaps change them to Insertion Effects instead (if the Insertions aren't already being used).

I don't know how well I'm explaining things. Both Arps and Mixing Mode are often confusing subjects with the MOXF. They are both a little more complicated to really understand and they don't often work how people expect them to.

I highly suggest checking out Motifator.com. Someone else mentioned this earlier.

Here is an article on the Mixing Mode: http://www.motifator.com/index.php/supp ... n_a_live_s

Here is an article on turning a drum pattern into an arp: http://www.motifator.com/index.php/supp ... ttern_mode

[DrGonzo]

Yes, you can create your own arpeggios. You use the built-in sequencer to create a pattern. Then you write the pattern to the user arpeggio data. I can't recall, but there may be 128 user arp slots available. I haven't done much with user arps, and it's been awhile since I've used that feature, so I don't recall exactly how it all works. But I think they are always based on a pattern. I don't think you can take a voice and simply turn on a switch for 'up arp' or 'play as chords'.

Each Voice and Performance can have up to six different arps assigned to it. It's a pretty easy system. You tap the button for which arp to use. There is an option to define whether the arp switches as soon as you select the new button, or if the current pattern finishes out first and THEN switches. There is also an Arp On/Off switch should you decide to turn off the arp. I sometimes do this with some rhythmic/gated sounds. Then I can choose to have sustained notes if I feel like it.

When switching voices, the old voice will always cut out immediately. So even if you have two voices programmed to use the same arp, switching to the 2nd voice will cause a glitch. So the option for you is to use Mixing Mode. Mixing Mode is kind of like a 16 track sequencer. You can assign different voices on each of the 16 tracks. So lets say you have Voice1 on Track1 and Voice2 on Track2. You can be playing Voice1 and then hit the button for Track2 to immediately start playing Voice 2. I have never tried this. It may take some getting used to timing things correctly. So I do warn you, it may not be ideal. If you have a 2nd keyboard, it's possible maybe you can play Voice1 on the Yamaha, and switch to the 2nd Keyboard for playing Voice2.

One thing to note regarding Mixing Mode, the voices are not necessarily going to sound 100% the same. This is a common complaint people have. The really nice thing about Mixing Mode is you can switch voices without having them cutoff. It's very helpful when playing live. Where the difference comes in is Mixing Mode shares a global effect across all the tracks. A voices INSERTION effects remain as they are in the Voice, but I believe the System Effect is shared across all the tracks. A System Effect is thought of as an environment for your sound. So, your Voice1 may have a Reverb System Effect and Voice2 may have a Delay. In this case, you can't have both. Sometimes, it may take a bit of reprogramming. Perhaps change them to Insertion Effects instead (if the Insertions aren't already being used).

I don't know how well I'm explaining things. Both Arps and Mixing Mode are often confusing subjects with the MOXF. They are both a little more complicated to really understand and they don't often work how people expect them to.

I highly suggest checking out Motifator.com. Someone else mentioned this earlier.

Here is an article on the Mixing Mode: http://www.motifator.com/index.php/supp ... n_a_live_s

Here is an article on turning a drum pattern into an arp: http://www.motifator.com/index.php/supp ... ttern_mode

Thanks for taking the time trying to explain it to me - and I _think_ I get it. But as always reading about something is never like using it. Weirdly enough I find the lack of touch screen a big plus - I never worked with the Motifs before - but I've never really liked touch screen interfaces.

/C

[iPlogger]

You are welcome. I find the interface on the MOXF quite easy to navigate and edit. I do all of my editing on the front panel. It comes bundled with Yamaha software for editing the Voices on Mac/Windows, but I never use the editor. I did use it with the RackXS as it was the only way to deeply edit. Yes, there are times I need to dig around because I can't remember where something is located. I also look at the manuals for reference.

Since you have never worked with the Motifs before, I'll mention one of my favorite features, the two Assignable Function buttons. Yamaha refers to them as giving expression to your voices. For example, you can hit an AF button and switch from a sustained string to a tremolo or pizzicato. There is no need to switch between two sounds. You just need to program this into the voice itself. For my needs, I use it to add elements (a voice can contain up to 8 elements) to a pad. For example, I hit an AF button and I have a choir-like sound on top of my pad. Or I'll add an element with a 5th to the sound. I also use it to control delay. I have some pianos programmed with delay and I use the AF buttons to quickly turn the delay on/off as needed. Perhaps you will find this feature useful.

Also, do you plan on getting a Flash board? This lets you add new Samples/Waveforms to use for voices. The Yamaha site has some free data you can download for it. There are also many sound libraries you can purchase, many contain new samples you can load onto the Flash.

I should point out, the knobs have a very audible incremental sound when using it on a filter. In a full mix you may not notice it, but on its own, it is easy to hear. This is one of the big bummers, and tradeoffs. You can always assign the Mod Wheel to the filter (which is what I sometimes do), just as long as the mod wheel isn't controlling something else already.

[DrGonzo]

Your last post really pushed me over the edge and a shiny new Moxf + Flash expansion is now ordered. Thanks for you taking the time sharing your thoughts.



/C