Hi there,

I just thought I’d add my opinions on the news of the Motif ES.

For me, the news of a NEW Motif is actually quite a negative thing. I mean, yes, it’s good that Yamaha are moving forward, and making better products, but personally I dislike buying products with a short life-span. I like to buy products that remain the best, for a while. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to always have the best, in this day and age, thanks to the huge use of computer technology in consumer electronics products.

I personally find technology moving so fast to be a huge annoyance. As soon as you’ve just got to grips with a piece of equipment, and feel comfortable using it, the manufacturers launch a newer version, that sends you back to reading manuals and learning-the-ropes again. So, you can never really relax, safe in the knowledge that you KNOW how to use a piece of equipment, because by the time you’ve reached that level, a new product will be out that demands for you to go back and learn, all over again.

Of course, you shouldn’t NEED to always buy the latest equipment. You shouldn’t need to always be on the cutting-edge. Infact, I think it’s best NOT to try and always be up-to-date, because it’s an impossible task. If you really wanted all the consumer electronics that you own, to always be the latest, to always be the best, you’d have to be willing to dispose of them all, practically every year. So, you’d essentially have to re-buy everything you own, every year, purely to keep up-to-date. Who can afford to do that?

Now, I know that the Motif ES allows you to do more, and has fewer limitations, but I think limitations are a good thing. They give you a box to work within. If there were no limitations at all, your brain would probably explode just thinking of all the things you could possibly do. Infinity is a hard concept to comprehend. Finity, on the other hand, is much easier :-)

Besides, what CAN’T you do on the original Motif? If you can’t produce a Platinum selling album on it, then that’s due to your limitations, not the keyboard’s. To say that the Motif isn’t powerful enough for your needs, is kind of like saying that you can’t write a book like Harry Potter, on a typewriter. You can make amazing things, on the most basic of equipment, if you’re capable of it. Similarly, you can create truly dreadful things, on the most advanced equipment.

Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. I’ll be sticking with my Motif 6 for a long time.

Alan

Re: My take on the Motif ES

Towards your point, I’ve also been thinking a lot about technology and the music industry with regards to product upgrades etc.. (as I guess many of us have lately).

One thing that strikes me is that a 10 year old computer is almost useless - tough to find current software that runs on it. But I think that the ‘Mo Classic’ would most likely be useful 10 years from now or even 20+ years from now. It makes beautiful sounds today and it will then - the sequencer/sampler is internal so those will work just fine - some interfaces will have been upgraded in the years ahead, but heck, you can always just record it straight into your medium of choice.

So I think that musical products based on technologies do see to have a longer life than some of the people around here have been surmising latelhy. As you mentioned, ony the super technology geeks upgrade computers whenever a new Pentium chip is introduced - most people skip a generation or two between purchases and are just fine. I would suppose that music products are that way or even longer lasting.

If people on the boards here are worried about budget for the ES, I’ve got to say - chill man! Hold on a couple/three more years - I will guarantee that there will be BETTER products on the market for LESS money. And isn’t that cool? And if you have the money, buy the ES! lol

Re: My take on the Motif ES

I too have been thinking (and reading other people’s opinions) about this quite a bit in the last few days. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to decide quickly to either plan on keeping my current Motif for many years to come, or sell now and go without for the next 4 months. If I sell now, I may get a fair amount for it, but if I wait until the ES is released, my current Motif will be worth next to nothing .

The upgrade incentives that Yamaha is offering, aside from the extended warranty, just aren’t that appealing. From the upgrade page….” A Discount Card worth over $500 for 25% discounts on:The mLAN 16E, any PLG Card, AEIB2, BC3, FC7, FC4, Yamaha Motif bags and cases …..”.
If I understand this correctly, it means I need to spend an additional $2000 in accessories to get the $500 discount (well….$2000 – 25% = $1500). Is this correct? After paying the difference for what people might get for the sale of their current Motif, how many people are going to have another $2000 to hand out. Not me. On that note, where will this discount card be usable, only here at KeyFax?

As I said in another post here this morning, regardless of what Yamaha is saying, the 1st generation Motif, is a dead product. As soon as the ES hits the streets, I’m afraid you’ll see that last of the new voice banks for your current Motif (Sorry about that, Dave). I hope to hell I’m wrong about this, but I don’t think so. Dave P., you are very talented at what you do, please don’t forget about the classic Motif owners.

I only wish I could play guitar, because a Stratocaster and Marshall amp never become obsolete. Oh well, decisions, decisions…..

Jeff

Re: My take on the Motif ES

Two points.

In another post we explained that the Multi Part editor for Motif is still planned.  There is currently no Multi Part editor for any Yamaha product available.  The Rack editor was delayed form the spring and will be released soon and the ES editor will not be done until the ES is.

Also the Motif and ES are voice compatible so we will continue to support both products with voice/sample banks that work on both. From a third party point of view, it is much better to create a bank that works on the larger installed base of Motif and ES, than just ES alone.  So you should see third party developers like Dave Polich and Pro Rec continuing to create Motif libraries because they will work in both keyboards where as ES libraries only work in ES.

We just have to point out that there are more voice banks already available for the Motif than any other synthesizer on the market. They are both high quality and reasonably priced.

Re: My take on the Motif ES

My take on the ES is:

Fabulous!  The fact is that progress DOES march on in every instrament out there. Every manufacture is in the constant process of it. Most of them, however, DO NOT make an attempt to respect the previous models ( Roland, Korg ) in very few ways, if any. At least Yamaha has made the voice parameters and the basic operation similar. The PLG technology is kept as well which is proof that they plan on future releases...probably at the Namm show next year.
My studio has owned a lot of Yamaha gear as well as others and I can say from experience that all products have a lifespan that is dictated by technology.
In mean really!!!....have you looked at computers lately????
Spend 3000.00 on a new Mac and waith 3 months! You will definately by sorry but that is the market. In the end, you must ask yourself do I want to wait forever for the all the next big things or do I want to make music now? Everybody has a different answer. Do you want to get a great deal on a Motif and make music now or wait for a more evolved version of the same great board?
Now you at least have the choice.
I think thats terrific news for both parties.
We are in the process of upgrading our main controller/workstation. This comes as great news and are thrilled about the ES! Yes, we could have bought a motif by now but we wanted to wait to see what the January Namn show would unveil and this just moves up our time table.

Cant wait to purchase it.

Just my .02 cents
Mikael

Re: My take on the Motif ES

Mikael,

I could’nt agree more! Looks like a great product that already has a proven track record and the new features are just what I have been looking for.
At this point I just have one thing to say to Yamaha!!....


Hurry up and get this thing on the shelves!!!!!

The Mob