What would the setup procedure be for the XS8 to be controlled by an external midi controller. Eg external portable midi keyboard.
The external controller will send midi signals to the midi input of the XS8.

The second question is naturally how do I configure the XS8, that i can change patches on the xS8 as usual, but the external midi controller is used to play the patches.

Preferably the output must be routed to be exactly the same analog and spdif out as if the XS8 ‘s own keyboard is used.

If the controller has 5-pin MIDI, its MIDI-Out should connect to the XS8’s MIDI-In. The XS8 should have “MIDI In/Out” in Utility mode set to “MIDI”. The controller’s MIDI transmit channel should match that of the XS8’s receive channel.

If the controller has only USB MIDI, that complicates things. Let us know.

Thanks a lot 5piDIN, it has IN/out/thru midi connectors.
Is there any canned tutorial on the web?l. I looked in the manual, but it is too general.
Is what you described above all that is needed?

oldkeys - 04 February 2019 02:06 PM

Thanks a lot 5piDIN,

You’re welcome.

 

oldkeys -

it has IN/out/thru midi connectors.
Is there any canned tutorial on the web?l. I looked in the manual, but it is too general.
Is what you described above all that is needed?

For what you asked about (selecting Programs via the XS8’s panel, but playing them using the external controller), what I described should be sufficient. Try it, and let us know if you have any problems.

Worked like a charm.
Thank you again 5pinDIn.
You just deserved your avatar.

All I did differently was to select “omni”, which should really be called all.

1) What happens in omni if I have two controllers connected by midi at different addresses. Would both play the same voice simultaneously (give or take latency)?

2) Is there any way to edit the triggering in the yamaha and not the controller. Eg if a note is triggered but alsoo has modulation data, is there a way in the Motif give modulation the preference?. At the moment it plays both modulation and the trigger, which doesnt make piano voices sound right.

I know this is really a controller config, but I ask in case the Motif has a powerful midi editor somewhere I dont know of.

Last thing I want to do is send it all to pc first. That will just cause latency.

oldkeys - 04 February 2019 08:46 PM

Worked like a charm.
Thank you again 5pinDIn.
You just deserved your avatar.

All I did differently was to select “omni”, which should really be called all.

The XS defaults to MIDI channel 1 for its Basic Receive Channel, and most controllers default to transmitting on that channel, so usually there’s no need to put the XS in Omni mode. If your controller transmits on other than Channel 1, then the Omni setting might be appropriate.

Setting the XS to Omni will cause it to receive messages on all channels when in Voice or Performance modes. However, in Song or Pattern modes the Omni setting has no effect - Parts in those modes will continue to receive only on their assigned channel.

 

oldkeys -

1) What happens in omni if I have two controllers connected by midi at different addresses. Would both play the same voice simultaneously (give or take latency)?

I presume by “different addresses” you mean different transmit channels (if not, then please explain). In that case if the MIDI data is properly merged, then indeed both controllers should be able to play the same Voice. If the same note is played by both controllers, any difference in timing between the two can cause a “phasing” sound.

 

oldkeys -

2) Is there any way to edit the triggering in the yamaha and not the controller. Eg if a note is triggered but alsoo has modulation data, is there a way in the Motif give modulation the preference?. At the moment it plays both modulation and the trigger, which doesnt make piano voices sound right.

I know this is really a controller config, but I ask in case the Motif has a powerful midi editor somewhere I dont know of.

Last thing I want to do is send it all to pc first. That will just cause latency.

The XS has some MIDI filtering, but it’s only applicable in the sequencer modes (Song/Pattern). See page 270 of the XS Owner’s Manual.

Thank you very much, I think I understand it better now.
I have lot of reading to9 do
Thanks again.

All I know is I will probably not buy a newer keyboard. Dont want to relearn all this over again.
Im going to look stupid 20 years from now with my motif xs8

oldkeys - 08 February 2019 03:28 AM

Thank you very much, I think I understand it better now.
I have lot of reading to9 do
Thanks again.

You’re welcome.

 

oldkeys -

All I know is I will probably not buy a newer keyboard. Dont want to relearn all this over again.

As has been said many times before, the Motifs are “deep”. There’s lots to learn about them because they can do so much. Effort made is usually rewarded.

 

oldkeys -

Im going to look stupid 20 years from now with my motif xs8

Presuming it’s functioning well, an “old” synth can still make “new” music. I’ve owned some of my MIDI gear for over 30 years. It remains to be seen if it will go another 20 years - or if I will.  :-)