I have a Motif Classic for the moment and next week I get the Motif XS.
Reading through the manuals I wonder how the chord recognition works on XS and how I have to program the arp to record and play it efficiently.
Sorry that I try this question in text, but if necessary I can copy the score in JPEG.

Suppose I have 3 bars for this simple progression for guitar picking with separate notes :
C/F/C7

The arp should produce for each bar a sequence of 4 notes after each other:
Bar 1 is the C chord : C3 E3 G3 C4
Bar 2 is the F chord : F3 A3 C4 F4
Bar 3 is the C7 chord:C3 E3 G3 Bb3

To record the arp I suppose that I use type “normal voice”. Then just record the first bar as above at the correct timing and “put track to arpeggio”.

Then, when I play the 3 bars via the arp do I have to play all 4 notes for each bar ?

Or is the the arp so intelligent that I can only play the first 3 notes and the octave is filled in by the arp function ?
Bar 1 C chord : play C3 E3 G3 and should the arp fill in the C4 (octave) automatically ?

For Bar 3=C7 I can understand that I should have to play the 4 notes as the function cannot guess the Bflat otherwise.

Or, is the chord recognition programmed like in certain systems where the C7 can be recognized by 2 notes (reference Real Guitar asks only for C2 + Bb2 to reproduce a complete C7).

The question is now over-simplified and looks not relevant. But the target is much more complicated as I will not have fingers enough to play :
- More instruments to be played at the same time (+strings and +brass)
- The arp is more complicated.
- The chord progression is also more difficult (inversion, omit root note, sus4, etc...)

As said before I can produce a score-example, but this can be a start to orient me what to do on the old Motif and/or the XS.
The manuals are very poor on this matter…
Thanks for your reply

The arpeggiator as implemented in the Motif Classic, is different from the arpeggiators as implemented in the Motif XS. In fact, new developments were introduced in the ES and yet again in the XS.

Not sure what the real purpose of your question is, but the history of the Motif-series Arpeggiators can be seen in the growth of the arp Types.

You got 256 in the original Motif, you got 1787 in the ES, and some 6633 in the XS… In the XF this number know exceeds 7800

Arps come in different types: those that are note data, those that are controller data, you have some that play a specific phrase when a single note is triggered, you have others that can recognize chords… Among those that recognize chords you have those that adjust to the range of the trigger notes, you have others that recognize the chords and just play from a predetermined range of notes.

Arps have Key Modes… That can sort the notes or play them according to how the notes are played, you have hybrid arps that trigger some Elements at specific velocity ranges, and although arps are assigned to trigger the entire Voice, you can with precise control over velocity of the arp data, partition the Elements so some note play direct, while others arpeggiate… Arps are complex, the reason Yamaha provides so many is precisely because good ones are very difficult to make.

In general if your arp data contains only three notes in the chord, you will only be able to have it play triads. Root-third-fifth. If you want to define the seventh, you will need to add a fourth (non-octave) note.

If you play C-E-G-c that’s a triad, you cannot have this figure out the Major7, the Dominant7, the Minor7, the Augmented7, nor the Diminished7

If you input C-E-G-B, then all the 7 chord family will be possible.
If you record the C Major 7, and use middle “C” as the ORG NOTE ROOT, when assigned to a Voice, the single note C3 will trigger the entire four note chord.

You can create three and four note arps by separating the source notes to the four Convert tracks. Each track could provide a different rhythm. Where a lot of people get tripped up is thinking that arps have to be used a specific way, they do not have only one way to use them. They are a creative tool.

You can have a single note-on play an entire phrase, or you can create an arp that interacts with your control notes. You can design the arp by how you layout the source notes.

And the biggest confusion concerning arps comes when you don’t understand/appreciate the difference between an Arpeggio Phrase and a Sequence Phrase. For example, knowing when it is best to make a phrase an arpeggio, and when just to use the sequencer to play the phrase.

Arps can only contain 16 unique notes. Even understanding this is different (while the melody of a song may have more than sixteen notes, it may not have more than 16 unique notes) ... Take the Star Spangled Banner, more than 16 notes to be sure, but many notes are repeats… So even though the melody is longer than 16 notes in length, the melody does not exceed the unique note limit.

While it is probably wise to create arps around one single chord quality, if you explore those Arp Type provided, they do not have to be that way at all. You will find some that seem to follow there own rules. And that’s the key to arps and creating them, what you need them to do will determine how you go about creating them.