I just installed the VL board the other day (in slot #2) and whenever I go to Pattern or Song modes track 2 has the first trumpet VL patch sounding on top of the default Piano voice (even though it shows Pre1 Piano as the assigned voice. Is this normal? Can I disable it so it doesn’t do that? My workaround so far (as I am trying to figure all this stuff out) is to just start recording on track 3. In reading elsewhere in the archives, I seem to have run across a suggestion that Track #1 should be left open in the event you may later want to “solo” over the top of your Pattern/Song. But the Vl voice on track 2 makes me scratch my head. Any suggestions (besides aspirin) or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

so to understand the midi structure.
is to understand a port.

the mo have not only 1 midi multi channel port.

no you have 4, take a look in the handbook.every port have 16 midichannel.

the 1st multiport ist the mo himself.
2 and 3 are free use this for the plug so you have no double.
port 4 is usally remotecontrol.

so whats wrong your plug use port1 midichannel 2.
but you need
use this at port2 midichannel 1, for that press utility and set the port to number 2.

if you want play the plug from a sequenzer use motif multi channel port2, perhaps need to aktivate in the pc midi driver.

LG Frank

On ES you should go to Utility menu and press [F6] PLUG, than [SF2] MIDI. Set Device number to 1, and Port number to 2 (this is most important!!!). Press Store button to save these settings to flash memory in ES.
Now, when you are in Song/Pattern mode and want to play VL sounds than press [F3] Track, [SF1] CHANNEL and set Port number to 2. But, you should do this on the track that corresponds to the number of the slot where your VL is (in your case it will be track 2). Than in Mixing mode press [F6] when selecting normal voice or PLG voice.
I hope that you have BC3a breath controller with VL, because without it you couldn’t explore all capabilities of VL technology.

Alex

From a post this week:

The Motif ES is normally 16 PART multi-timbral… There are 16 internal PARTS - typcially, each is assigned to a MIDI channel 1-16. If you add PLG150 series boards to your ES, they can either share or replace one of the 16 internal PARTS.

If, however, you are using the Motif ES as a MIDI interface (via USB connection or via the mLAN16E/Firewire connection) you can place your PLG150-Series boards on a separate PORT. This allows you to address them discreetly. The internal PARTS will be addressed on PORT 1, MIDI channels 1 through 16. While you can place your three PLG150 boards on PORT 2… where they will occupy MIDI Channel 1 (Slot 1) , MIDI Channel 2 (Slot 2) and MIDI Channel 3 (Slot 3).

When you use the USB or mLAN connection your Motif ES can add multi-timbral PARTS. If you have three PLG150-series boards you can be 19 PART multi-timbral.

You can select the PORT for your PLG 150 series boards as follows:
Press [UTILITY]
Press [F6] PLUG
Press [SF2] MIDI
Here if you set them to PORT 2, you can address them via your DAW (or the internal sequncer) when you assign a track to PORT 2 and you assign the output to MIDI channel 1 - 3 for Slots 1 - 3.  (In the screen shot, below, the PORT NO. is set to “OFF”. When set to OFF or 1 it will be addressed as an internal PART… layering or replacing an internal PART… if you change the setting, all PLG150’s will change together).

By placing your PLG150 boards on PORT 2, only when you route a track on PORT 2, and on the specific MIDI channel for that PART, will you hear the VL board.

Internal ES tracks can be route by going to the main SONG or PATTERN screen:
Press [F3] TRACK
Press [SF1] CHANNEL
Here you can see the 16 TRACKS of the Motif ES sequencer. If your VL board is in SLOT 1, and you have set the PORT for your PLUG-IN Boards to 2… then only when a track is set to PORT = 2 and Channel = 1 will you hear the PLG150-VL

Hope that helps. Let us know.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

These explanations are excellent ... does everything described above as to how to address PLG150-VL card voices along with other non-PLG voices on the Motif XS apply equally to the Motif Rack ES? Or is the port/track structure different in any meaningful way?

- OneWatt

nbadesign - 06 March 2009 10:26 AM

On ES you should go to Utility menu and press [F6] PLUG, than [SF2] MIDI. Set Device number to 1, and Port number to 2 (this is most important!!!). Press Store button to save these settings to flash memory in ES.
Now, when you are in Song/Pattern mode and want to play VL sounds than press [F3] Track, [SF1] CHANNEL and set Port number to 2. But, you should do this on the track that corresponds to the number of the slot where your VL is (in your case it will be track 2). Than in Mixing mode press [F6] when selecting normal voice or PLG voice.
I hope that you have BC3a breath controller with VL, because without it you couldn’t explore all capabilities of VL technology.

Alex

That did the trick Alex, and thanks to everyone else who helped shed some light on why this was happening. And yes I did get a BC3a and am just scratching the surface. BTW - Is there something special I have to do to get the VL Editor software to work inside Studio Manager or is it supposed to be used standalone and NOT show up inside SM? Just curious.

Is there something special I have to do to get the VL Editor software to work inside Studio Manager or is it supposed to be used standalone and NOT show up inside SM?

It depends on your taste. You could use VL Editor from SM, where you should set your MIDI port to #2 and your MIDI ch to #2, since your VL card is in slot 2. But, if you use it as standalone program, set port to 1 and MIDI ch to 1! (see page 3 of VL Editor manual).

Alex

Any differences in these great instructions when using a Motif Rack ES?

- OneWatt

Any differences in these great instructions when using a Motif Rack ES?

Generally, the settings are the same especially if you are using rack in Voice mode or play through DAW from computer. If you are intending to use VL card and BC controller, you should buy BC3 to MIDI converter (http://secure.keyfax.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=BC3-USB) since racks do not have BC input.

Alex

Here’s a related question:

I have a 150VL in slot one and a 150AN in slot two on my ES.  I have no problem getting the sounds from either of these boards to work in Voice, Song, or Pattern mode.  However, in PERFORMANCE mode I can’t get the 150AN to ‘sound’.

I select Performance / F2 (Voice) / SF2 (AddPLG) and scroll to PLG2USR:001 (the first Board Voice) and the proper voice name shows up, but nothing comes out of my speakers when I play the keyboard.  I’ve made sure the note limits are at the extremes and tested by using internal and 150VL voices in the same layer and they work fine.

What am I doing wrong?

I select Performance / F2 (Voice) / SF2 (AddPLG) and scroll to PLG2USR:001 (the first Board Voice) and the proper voice name shows up, but nothing comes out of my speakers when I play the keyboard.

I suppose that you have already loaded some voices to PLG2USR bank. Also, some plug-in User voices (that resides in Motif) are created from plug-in voices that are in board RAM (created by board Editor software, in this case ANExpertEditor). So, if you didn’t previosly loaded that voices to board RAM via PluginAllBulk2, voices copied to Motif could not be heard, since they are pointed to no data.

Alex

nbadesign - 18 March 2009 06:27 AM

Any differences in these great instructions when using a Motif Rack ES?

Generally, the settings are the same especially if you are using rack in Voice mode or play through DAW from computer....

Alex

I would like to be able to use Multi, so I can use a PLG150-VL voice on wind controller (EWI, not BC) and simultaneously have my sequencer fire other accompaniment instrument tracks.

If anyone know of any differences in how the Motif Rack ES and the Motif keyboards need to be configured would be appreciated.

Thanks! OneWatt

I would like to be able to use Multi, so I can use a PLG150-VL voice on wind controller (EWI, not BC) and simultaneously have my sequencer fire other accompaniment instrument tracks.

If anyone know of any differences in how the Motif Rack ES and the Motif keyboards need to be configured would be appreciated.

As I said before in this post, the situation is almost the same. I suppose that you are using USB cable for MIDI connection to your computer (external sequencer). In that case in Multi mode you should place yours PLG voices on MIDI channel 1 or 2 (depending wheter your PLG card is installed in slot 1 or 2) and change port number to 2 by this command:
[UTILITY] - PLG1Sys/PLG2Sys display - “PortNo.”.
Also, your MIDI IN/OUT should be set to USB:
[UTILITY] - MIDI display - “MIDI IN/OUT” = “USB”.
Whether you are using EWI4000s and connect your instrument to Rack ES via MIDI 5pin cable or EWI USB where you are using USB cable and connect directly to computer, you should go to your MIDI settings in DAW and activate MIDI Thru. In that case your DAW application will be echoing back what are you playing by EWI to Rack ES. Hope that this clarify your question.

Alex

Alex - Clear as day! Many thanks ... can’t wait to give it a try. - OneWatt

Clear instructions, but I haven’t been successful for some reason.

I believe my problem is within SONAR (8 Studio) assigning the PORTs - apparently I have some additional homework to do at that end, since the guidance on directing the Ports within the Motif Rack ES seem straightforward enough.

- OneWatt

Clear instructions, but I haven’t been successful for some reason.

I believe my problem is within SONAR (8 Studio) assigning the PORTs - apparently I have some additional homework to do at that end, since the guidance on directing the Ports within the Motif Rack ES seem straightforward enough.

OneWatt,

Did you check (in Sonar) your MIDI settings? I’m not familiar with Sonar, but you should be able to see in device settings Yamaha_USB_MIDI In/Out 1-5 (5 ports). You should activate 4 ports (both In’s and Out’s), where port 1 is for standard MIDI communication with Motif tone generator, port 2 is for plug-in cards, port 3 is for remote control of Studio Manager Multi Editor and port 4 is for remote control of your DAW.

Alex