This is a totally academic question about Plug-In Voice memory and button allocation for the PLG150-AN in the Motif ES.  I understand how to use it, but as an engineer and computer programmer, I would like to know what is happening. This is not about Board Voices, this about Plug-In Voices.

Let’s say you hit the sequence PLG > BANK(F2) > data wheel to either PLGUSR or PLGPRE > ENTER.  The voice data and board voice pointers are now loaded for the selected Plug-In Voice set such that the voices can be called up with BANK [A-D] and NUMBER [1-16] buttons.

It seems odd that this would not be designed in a way such that, say, the PLGUSR would be maybe BANK [A-D] and the PLGPRE BANK [E-F].  It would eliminate the need to go to the BANK(F2) button and data wheel to to the desired PLGUSR of PLGPRE voice set.  That way, when the PLG bank is selected, you don’t have to look and see if it’s the USR or PRE bank that’s loaded.  It would all be there with a simple BANK and NUMBER selection.

Intuitively (based on the voice button layout on the rest of the keyboard), when you hit a bank and number to bring up a voice, you know immediately if it’s a preset voice or a user voice.  With the plug in board, you have to look at the display and find out which bank set is called up.  If it’s not right, you then have to change it.  With the additional banks available [E-H], it seems a poor execution compared to the rest of the ES voice selection layout.  It must have been done for a reason.

SOO, if anyone knows, I’d like to know the reasoning, and better yet, architecture behind this rather odd implementation to fully understand the memory usage, pointers, and data location assignments in the ES.  Why the need to have the PLGUSR and PLGPRE voices share the same set of BANK [A-D] and NUMBER [1-16] buttons?  I’m on a mission to learn this beast inside and out.

Re: PLGUSR and PLGPRE Button Assignment Question

I guess to really see the full picture you would have to know about all the different PLG150 series boards.

The PLG150-VL,for example, has PLGxUSR with 64 sounds but has three PLGPRE banks each with 64 sounds. How would you fit that in? Hmmm!

Since Preset and User Voices are always kept in separate BANKS it seems logical just the way it is because they have different Bank Select numbers.

For example, a PLGxUSR (where ‘x’ is the slot number 1-3) will be selected by Bank Select commands:
PLG1USR = 063/024 for slot 1
PLG2USR = 063/025 for slot 2
PLG3USR = 063/026 for slot 3

All of the PLG150-series boards have just a single USR bank with 64 locations.

The PLGPREx (where ‘x’ is the preset bank number) will be selected by Bank Select commands:
PLGPRE1 = 063/070 for slot 1
PLGPRE1 = 063/073 for slot 2
PLGPRE1 = 063/076 for slot 3

(Most boards only have a PLGPRE1 bank, however, the PLG150-VL board has additional preset banks… one for Breath Control, one for Velocity and one for TouchEG (aftertouch))

PLGPRE2 (found only when a PLG150-VL) when in slot 1 = 063/071
PLGPRE3 (found only when a PLG150-VL) is in slot 1 = 63/072

PLGPRE2 (found only when a PLG150-VL) when in slot 2 = 063/074
PLGPRE3 (found only when a PLG150-VL) is in slot 2 = 63/075

PLGPRE2 (found only when a PLG150-VL) when in slot 3 = 063/077
PLGPRE3 (found only when a PLG150-VL) is in slot 3 = 63/078

So it would be illogical (possibly) to have Presets and User sounds called by the same Bank Select commands… Particularly when development of boards was ongoing - you have to allow for future technologies. The PLG100-series have different set of bank requirements (as they do not have the structure for a full Voice mode… and are designed to be used in a multi setup or as an effect processor).

Not that your idea isn’t a good one - if all PLG150 boards had 64 user and only 64 preset banks (perhaps) but that is not the case. The VL comes with 192 Preset sounds spread out among three Preset banks.

In most cases, the PLG150- boards will be addressed from the sequencer where you can automate the Voice bank selection and program. Or from Master mode, where you can automate the selection with the appropriate commands - recalling from internal or PLG, from Preset or User all from on MASTER bank. (Given the fact that there is a MASTER mode, it precludes the need for mixing and matching the Preset and User elsewhere).

Hope that helps. I am not a design engineer nor a computer programmer but simply a musician using the technology, I understand the Bank selection issue as the reason for this - if there are others perhaps one of the design engineers would be better to explain. But it makes sense the way it is....

Re: PLGUSR and PLGPRE Button Assignment Question

Ok, I have a partial answer here,

[url=http://www.motifator.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=1]http://www.motifator.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=1 [/url],2,4&Board=Plugboard&Number=258857

Bad Mister writes:

“if [the Motif] finds a PLG150-AN in one of the three slots, it then loads the appropriate 64 PLGPRE (Plugin Preset) Voices to the slot containing the PLG150-AN. It will also create 64 blank PLG USR (Plugin User) locations for that slot”

The first sentence sounds like there are 64 locations on the AN board memory where the PLGPRE voice data goes, even though the actual voice data is contained in the ES ROM.  The data is dumped from the ES to the AN card. The [A-D] banks on the front panel then point to these locations on the AN card.  The memory on the AN card can be volatile, and yet appear non-volatile to the user because the synth dumps the setup information there when it boots.

The second sentence makes me think perhaps the 64 PLGUSR voice locations are created in non-volatile memory on the ES.  It was decided to use the same button assignments and therefore require a flip-flop back and forth between the PLGUSR and PLGPRE banks using the BANK (F2) button, which actually just pulls up “my buttons are pointing to either the AN card or the ES memory location” data on the ES.

Is this correct?  I guess it would make sense from a programmer’s point of view, but IMHO it would have been better to use [A-D] for one group and [E-F] for the other.

Re: PLGUSR and PLGPRE Button Assignment Question

Oops, looks like we were typing at the same time.

Many thanks for the explanation, I figured it had to do with other card designs and their integration in the system.

Is the data flow and memory assignment location scenario I’ve described correct?