Greetings All,

First of all this is my first post to the forum and I want to say, what a great community forum this whole motifator.com is!

I am pretty much a newbie to the Motif XS and Logic Studio and I had several questions.  I have a Motif XS8 and recently bought an iMac computer and bought Logic Studio.  I currently have my Motif XS connected to my iMac using a USB.  I also have a Duet audio interface connected to my iMac using firewire and the output of the Motif XS going into the Duet and then the output of the Duet to my speakers.

I have some pattern chains and songs saved in my Motif and wanted to upload/transfer the tracks and instruments into Logic Pro 8.  I want to “mirror” the tracks and instruments that are currently in the Motif XS into Logic.  I was able to figure out one way to do this, kind of.  I set up the clock timing and set up nine different instruments/parts in Logic and each instrument was set as an input 1 or input 2.  I then did a solo for each instrument/part and recorded each part separately (so I had to record nine different times and some of the timing was off, however).

I made each part the same using a Basic Acoustic Guitar (even though the parts on the Motif were piano, drums, strings, etc.)

1.  Is there a way to record each part on separate tracks in Logic all at the same time so I can mix each one separately in Logic?  How do I set up the inputs and outputs correctly to do this?

2.  Someone mentioned to use the bus feature but I do not know anything about this.  Is this a way to go and how do I do that?

3.  Is it even possible to record the Motif XS sounds directly into Logic or would I need to do some sort of a MIDI thing here?  (my knowledge of MIDI is virtually none).  Would I need to find the closet sound/instrument possible in Logic to match the Motif XS instrument?

My goal is to be able to get the same thing I have in the Motif XS into Logic so I can add and mix each part separately (maybe even add and create some additional instruments to the existing tracks).  Maybe this is what the bus thing does but I don’t know how to do that.

I may have to get some help too in how I have all the input settings configured in Logic and with the Duet.

I have gotten a little frustrated (learning curve) I hope I was able to articulate my goals and the problems I am having.

Thanks in advance for any help and your understanding in me being a new guy to all of this.

In answering questions (1) and (3)

Since you have Motif XS8, you already have MLAN, which allows you to record multiples parts from your MOTIF into separate audio tracks in Logic through a firewire cable. I don’t use Logic and can not tell you exactly what you need to do.  Nevertheless, these links will guide you through the setup process.

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/archive/viewthread/358714/

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/archive/viewthread/373744/

Then you should learn the following document.

http://files2.keyfax.com/XSPDFs/Advanced_Application_AUDIO_SETUP.zip

Good luck

As a Logic User, let me suggest the following two links instead and suggest that you use the MLAN to record the XS into Logic and the Apogee Duet to record anything else…

LINK ONE

LINK TWO

1.  Is there a way to record each part on separate tracks in Logic all at the same time so I can mix each one separately in Logic?  How do I set up the inputs and outputs correctly to do this?

See first link...

2.  Someone mentioned to use the bus feature but I do not know anything about this.  Is this a way to go and how do I do that?

Bus feature for what exactly????

3.  Is it even possible to record the Motif XS sounds directly into Logic or would I need to do some sort of a MIDI thing here?  (my knowledge of MIDI is virtually none).  Would I need to find the closet sound/instrument possible in Logic to match the Motif XS instrument?

I will try what you guys recommended and let you know how it works out.  Thanks for helping out a newbie.  You guys are awesome!

OK.  I think motif8mine’s tutorial is awesome.  However, I had a few problems getting the same results as the tutorial.  I have no experience whatsoever with Logic and I am very new to the Motif as well so I’m sure that has alot to do with it. 

I did not see a driver for the USB appear in the AMS even though I downloaded it and it appears in the System preferences.  I got the connection manager to appear at the top of the desktop so I assume that is working.

I may be unclear on how the connections work and their function.  I have my Motif connected to my iMac using a USB cable and then I also have my iMac connected through firewire into my Duet.

Currently, I use Logic as a medium to get to the speaker output.  When I play the keyboard, I see that Logic reads the notes I am playing in the MIDI in/out at the bottom of the screen.  I just have the Motif playing through the input of an instrument I made in Logic and Duet is the Core Audio.

What I did with a pattern chain I programmed in the Motif was make a bunch of generic audio instruments in Logic (I made them all an Acoustic guitar) and just ran everything through Logic soloing one track at a time. 

This sort of accomplished what I wanted but if I understand correctly, there is nothing that can be manipulated with those tracks in Logic since they are essentially analog (like plugging in an electric guitar I guess).

I was under the impression that using the USB connection for MIDI input that I could somehow do both.  I was also trying to get each track uploaded into Logic simultaneously if possible but I could not seem to get the Motif and Logic to communicate. 

I may be having difficulty articulating what I am trying to accomplish here or if it is possible.  Thanks for your patience with my learning curve here.

I did not see a driver for the USB appear in the AMS even though I downloaded it and it appears in the System preferences.  I got the connection manager to appear at the top of the desktop so I assume that is working.

If you are going to connect via USB, you need the Yamaha USB-MIDI driver and would set the XS to operate via USB and not MLAN as in the tutorial. Keep in mind, you now are going to be recording the XS8 Audio Output into Logic with a max of two mono or one stereo track via the Duet, instead of the 16 mono or 8 stereo (or any combination of 16 tracks), that you would get via MLAN… With my elementary math skills, that tells me it be about 8 times as much work.

Also, I’m not quite clear as to whether you are attempting to record Audio and MIDI from the XS or just MIDI…

I appreciate your reply motif8mine.  I am trying to accomplish recording MIDI as well as Audio into Logic (which I am not sure is possible).  I mainly have the Duet in order to add vocals as well as external instruments from other band mates.  I also have the Duet connected to use as the output medium for listening.

I guess that since I have the USB connected to the Motif and into Logic, I could use this for the MIDI.  I then could keep the firewire connection going to the Duet to use as output and still accomplish what I want.  Am I correct in this thinking?

I think right now my problem is that I am only using the Duet to record audio into Logic and I want to do MIDI as well.  If I understand correctly, MIDI can be manipulated once it is in Logic but you would need to find the closest instrument that matches the Motif instruments I have on my tracks.  Ideally, I would have the exact same instruments/sounds transferred into Logic as what is in the Motif.  Is this right?

bump

OK, there are big disadvantages to using a public computer… :)
Here we go…

I guess that since I have the USB connected to the Motif and into Logic, I could use this for the MIDI.  I then could keep the firewire connection going to the Duet to use as output and still accomplish what I want.  Am I correct in this thinking?

I don’t have a better answer than I gave above MLAN is the best choice to efficiently record audio and MIDI into Logic via the XS8, period… The audio output of the XS can act as your monitor, except when you are recording via the Duet.

I think right now my problem is that I am only using the Duet to record audio into Logic and I want to do MIDI as well. If I understand correctly, MIDI can be manipulated once it is in Logic but you would need to find the closest instrument that matches the Motif instruments I have on my tracks.

No, this is not correct. You can record MIDI into Logic and trigger the XS’ tone generator via External Instruments within Logic. (The XS would act as your monitor in this situation). You can record MIDI into Logic and play it through Logic’s Software Instruments on a Software Instrument Track. You can record MIDI to an External Instrument Track set to Mlan’s Port #3 and have it trigger the tone generator of any synth, module, etc… physically connected to the XS’ MIDI Out. And you can also record the Audio output of the XS’ instruments into a Logic Audio Track…