Just replaced my keyboard with an s70xs and can’t find documentation on how to set up a series of voices and use a boss FS 5U as a patch switch pedal.  This is for pit work in musical theater and my next show has approx 50 different voices and probably at least 100 changes....and opens in three weeks, not giving me much time to learn the new keyboard, so any help is greatly appreciated!

Welcome to the Forums!

You will find no documentation on the use of Boss (Roland) pedals with your Yamaha synth :-), but a foot switch plugged into the Assignable Foot Switch jack can be set to “increment” through your programs.

If you are in VOICE mode, for example, you can place the Voices you are going to use in order in the USER 1 bank, then conveniently step through them with the FS set to increment.

If you use a combination of modes, that is some programs are VOICES, others require PERFORMANCES and still other require MULTI programs, you can create what is referred to in the documentation as a MASTER Mode setup.

Master mode simple gives you access to your internal (and external) setups in on convenient bank… Which you can increment through with the Foot Switch.

Press [UTILITY]
Select “Controller”
Set FS CTRL NO = PC INC (Foot Switch Controller Number = Program Change Increment)
Press [STORE]

Since you mentioned working in the pit, you may want to learn to organize you data in groups based on your timing needs… Here is what I mean… Using a MULTI setup… Which can hold as many as 16 Voices (one in each of the sixteen PARTS of the MULTI Mix setup… You would place those Voices that require seamless transitions in the same MULTI… Reason: Voices in the same MULTI can all be recalled together and moving between them can be accomplished via the numbered buttons.

Using the front panel numbered Part buttons you can switch between any of the 16 sounds without any audible interruption. Useful for some situations where you don’t have enough silence to make a program change.

For example, if you need to hold a string chord (Part1) at the end of one number and pickup with a solo piano during the string chord, assign the Piano to Part 2, you can hold the strings with a sustain pedal (or your hands) while you select Part 2 and play the piano. When you release the string chord it will die out.

Master mode is certainly worth your time and effort as it will allow you to easily structure your setups.

S90 XS/S70 XS Understanding Master Mode

Bad_Mister - 15 June 2013 07:18 AM

Using a MULTI setup… Which can hold as many as 16 Voices (one in each of the sixteen PARTS of the MULTI Mix setup… You would place those Voices that require seamless transitions in the same MULTI… Reason: Voices in the same MULTI can all be recalled together and moving between them can be accomplished via the numbered buttons.

Using the front panel numbered Part buttons you can switch between any of the 16 sounds without any audible interruption.

S90 XS/S70 XS Understanding Master Mode

Could you please tell me a way to seamlessly transition between the voices/MIDI channels of a MULTI using a footswitch/pedal instead of using the numbered buttons? I can switch seamlessly between voices within a MULTI with the buttons, but I’d like to make switches while playing with both hands.

Additionally, I have commonly used a volume pedal to fade in a layer (e.g., a string pad layer over a piano). I’m doing this by turning of the volume pedal for the piano but leaving it on for the pad. Is there a way to use a second volume pedal to fade in a third voice?

Thank You!

....Later.... I just did some digging through the forum, and it looks like the answer to my first question is that it can’t be done.

Is there a way to do the my second question?

Is there a way to do the my second question?

Yes. There is.

You would need to edit the third Voice, storing a new version in a User Voice location. Then use this edited Voice in your Performance. This Voice would be set up do you are biasing the volume to a particular physical controller. For example, assign it to look to an FC7 plugged into the FOOT CONTROLLER 2 jack, set to send cc004 Foot Control. FC2(04) can be set as the SOURCE and “Volume” can be set as the Destination for this Voice.

Thanks for the quick reply. I set this up the best that I could, and the second volume pedal is now affecting the voice. But the first volume pedal is still controlling it too, and to a much greater extent. The second one is not turning it all the way off like the first one- not controlling it as well. How to I shut off the first volume pedal? I didn’t see it there under controllers where I thought it would be.

Thanks for your help!

Thanks for the quick reply. I set this up the best that I could, and the second volume pedal is now affecting the voice. But the first volume pedal is still controlling it too, and to a much greater extent. The second one is not turning it all the way off like the first one- not controlling it as well. How to I shut off the first volume pedal? I didn’t see it there under controllers where I thought it would be.

I just did it and works fine.

First, lets make sure the Piano/Strings Layer works properly.

From the MULTI
PART 1 = PIANO
Go to RECEIVE SWITCH page and make sure that the VOL/EXP box is not checked. This will prevent the piano PART from responding.

PART 2 = STRINGS
Go to the RECEIVE SWITCH page and make sure that the VOL/EXP box is marked

This should allow you to fade the strings in and out without affecting the piano’s Volume.

As mentioned you will need to EDIT the third Voice for your purposes. This third Voice will need to be biased so that it looks to the FC2 jack (pedal sending cc004) for its Volume.

You don’t mention what Voice but it will not matter. Call up that Voice (edit it in Voice mode) and prepare it with the following edit:
Press [EDIT]
Select COMMON
Select PLAY MODE
Set the VOLUME = 0

Press EXIT to return to the EDIT select screen
Select the CONTROL SET
You need to use one of the six Control setups so that
SOURCE = FOOT CTRL2(04)
DESTINATION = VOLUME
DEPTH = +32 (linear response - but set this to taste, it controls how far you must apply the pedal to get results)

This now biases the Volume of this VOICE to the position of the FC2 control. When the pedal is toe-down the Voice is at maximum volume, when the pedal is heel down the Voice is at minimum. The VOLUME = 0 setting ensures the minimum, and the setting of Depth affects the maximum.
Press [STORE]

Store this to a USER VOICE location - then add this USER VOICE to your MULTI/performance as PART 3 with the RECEIVE SWITCH for VOL/EXP not checked. You don’t want this Part responding to 007 or 011, just cc004.

This gives me a condition such that when both FC7 are in the Heel down position, I play just piano.
I can fade the Strings in with FC1, and fade the Synth Pad (third Voice) in and out with FC2.

Bad_Mister - 30 June 2013 03:40 AM

Voice (edit it in Voice mode) and prepare it with the following edit:
Press [EDIT]
Select COMMON
Select PLAY MODE
Set the VOLUME = 0

You did it! You’re my new hero. I went wrong in couple places- one being that I didn’t set the volume of the edited voice to 0. I was thinking that I’d want it around 80-100.

Works beautifully, and I can see using this trick for other things as well. (I’m working on a piece by Keith Emerson called Inferno, which has strings and horns coming in and out along the way.)

I greatly appreciate you sharing your expertise with me.
Regards,
-Jason