Is it possible to record the arps into the sequencer or are arps internal only?
Let me make an example so it is more clear what i want to do: When i press down a note key on my external midi keybord then of course my sequencer on the pc records this note key. i have connected my motif via usb by the way, and the keyboard is connected to the motif midi in.
ok, so now that i have pressed a key on my keyboard my motif plays the arp for that note. now i would like to record the arp data/events instead of my single and boring midi key down event.
Is that even possible or does this data never leave the motif. if it does where in the manual can i find the information i need to record this?
thanks in advance for any help!

The arpeggio data only leaves the Motif-Rack ES if, and when you tell it to do so.

When you are working with an ARP in MULTI mode, you can go to ARP EDIT - to do so hold [SHIFT] + [ARPEGGIO]

Use the DOWN CURSOR to scroll down to the OUTPUT SW (Output Switch) which must be set to ON, and the TRANSMIT CH (Tranmit Channel) which should be set to the MIDI channel on which you wish to output the arpeggio’s MIDI data.

Recommended: You select a different MIDI channel from the one you are using to trigger the Motif-Rack ES, this way you can record and identify the arpeggio output separately from the notes used to trigger the arpeggio (what you referred to as your “boring midi key down event”

So in short you can have the trigger notes on one MIDI channel and the notes created by the arpeggio pattern on another.

You don’t mention what your sequencer is but presumably you can set the track or tracks appropriately in that unit to receive the data the way you require or you can easily separate the data with a channel dissolve or separate function.

Thank you so much Bad_Mister! That’s a damn lot of fun.

this is the sequel to this

in my old sequencer i had it working. i was able to record the arp midi data to a midi track of my choosing in the sequencer.
now i upgraded to cubase 5 and i have the following problem:

when i press a key on my keyboard the midi signal indicator in cubase lights up, so the midi messages arrive. but no ARP data is being played.
but now comes the part i don’t understand: when i record this note to trigger the arp and then play it back from the sequencer, THEN it actually triggers the arp and i can see arp data arriving at the channel i specified.
so i have obviously something set up wrongly with my midi routing? i have searched for information about this and here is what i got so far and what my settings are that i think are important:

- cubase 5, midi thru disabled (for arp data capturing only, to avoid sending the arp data back)
- motif rack es connected via USB
- cubase uses internal master sync, which is sent to motif usb-01. set to always send the clock, even if sequencer is stopped
- motif is set to midi sync to receive tempo from the cubase sequencer

now obviously what i want is to be able to play/monitor arps directly, instead of requiring to first record the arp trigger to a seperate track.
on a side note, when i enable midi thru, then it seems the arp is being triggered, but only for as long as no other note event occurs on the same note that triggered the arp. could that be? maybe it just felt like it, but usually the arp only plays for a very short time and then stops.

does any of this make sense? if not i will try to explain further what the problem is, maybe with screenshots etc.

Defeating the MIDI THRU ACTIVE operation is something you undoubtedly picked up from a post about the keyboard version of the arpeggiator… that needs to be active (actually for the Rack ES) because you need to bounce the trigger notes off of Cubase. The trigger notes which will be merged on Port 1 of the USB-MIDI connection will then echo back to the Rack ES and the arp data will ping-pong back to a different target track (see article below)… but make sure you restore MIDI THRU ACTIVE (because you will need it, trust me).

Recording the MIDI output of the Motif-Rack ES arpeggios is a deep end of the pool operation - we covered this back when the Rack ES came out (2004) with Cubase SX3… the article is updated here for use with Cubase 5:

Working with the Motif Rack ES Arpeggios: Tips 101

thanks again Bad_Mister, it works after i followed your instructions, i was missing the midi filters on each channel. you rock!