Hi all,

The first beta release of the XStremeTouch Performance Editor is now available for download from http://www.xstremetouch.com. Both Windows and OS X versions are provided.

I have put some brief notes in a pop-up that appears when you first run it, but basically you need to do the following:

- Unzip the app
- Run it
- Select your XS MIDI interface from the dropdown menu (you may need to do this even if the menu appears to show the correct one already)
- Put your XS into Performance mode
- Select a performance to edit
- Click ‘sync from XS’

The software provides full editing of pretty much everything in a performance, except for some of the more detailed FX parameters.

Other beta notes:

- This version will only edit the currently selected performance on the XS

- On windows especially, the sync doesn’t always work right. Just wait a bit, reselect the MIDI interface from the menu and retry. It usually works after a short timeout.

- There is no ‘write to XS’ function yet. Use [Store] on the XS to write your created performance to flash ROM

These and a bunch of other things will be appearing in due course. This is a very complex application and I’m working on it alone in my spare time. I will be continuing to improve it and add new features - I have loads of ideas, but it’s a work in progress and this is it’s first public outing :)

Hope you like it, let me know how you get on. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have, and I’ve tried to make any rough edges as painless as possible (there are a few still in there).

I created some nice new performances using it already, hopefully you’ll be able to as well.

Enjoy.

Df.

PS: The immediate ‘to do’ list is as follows:

- Selection of performances to edit
- Write to XS
- Copy parts between performances
- Some form of automatic performance generation based on user input
- Full FX editing (at present you can select templates for the most part)
- Copy ARPs between parts (and from other performances)
- Better saving/loading of custom voice name banks
- Complete the graph in part edit mode that shows the keyboard scaling
- Fix any bugs that appear
- Custom notes for arpeggios
- Favourites for arpeggios

I’m sure there’s more. But feel free to add new suggestions

Err, it should be fairly self explanatory in it’s use. A couple of tips:

- To rename the performance, click the name at the top of the main screen and type.

- Click on any of the 4 parts in the center of the main window to get the ‘4 part overview’

- Generally speaking, “click on things” is the best advice.

- There are a lot of tooltips in there. Hover the mouse to get info on stuff

- Hold SHIFT down when moving any control to get finer resolution

Df.

ABSOLUTELLY FANTASTIC !!!
Very professional and beautiful work.
I´ll test it as soon is possible!
Thanks a lot!

Thanks :)

I think it’s a ways short of being professional yet, but I’d like to think it’ll get there in due course.

One bug I haven’t mentioned - it’s only a display bug. On some of the frequency controls for EQ, the label will say “Hz” instead of “kHz”. This will be fixed. The value actually transmitted to the XS should be correct however.

Df.

Looks very nice, sync is very fast, immediate response from Motif xs but it’s freezing when you click on some functions several times in succession. I am testing on Vista (who knows) For early beta overall impression is excellent. Thanks.

kiborg - 08 February 2010 12:28 PM

it’s freezing when you click on some functions several times in succession. I am testing on Vista (who knows)

It would be really helpful if you could provide specifics as to which functions you are clicking.

The only thing that I can think of that might cause issues is quickly and repeatedly changing the voice associated with a part.

This is because when you change a voice there are a number of other parameters that can change automatically as a result and the XS has to be queried for them.

I have a more elegant solution in the works (which involves a re-write of the code that handles an incoming MIDI bulk dump from the XS) but for now it simply does another sync when you change voice, so you need to give it a couple of seconds after changing a voice.

If something else is causing a problem, then if you can tell me what it is I’ll be able to look into it in more detail. Vista ... hmm, could be an issue. I haven’t got Vista so I couldn’t test it using it.

All feedback is helpful though, thanks :)

Df.

Thanks DF. Just downloaded it and gave it a try. Is it supposed to run as a stand alone for edit then disconnect?

I am connected via USB to an old pentium 4 running XP. I selected the Yamaha Motif XS-1, put the Motif into performance mode and press sync. This I assume has worked as the correct performance name appers on the PC. However if I play any notes, the Xtreme programs dials etc all begin to alter and the sound on the motif becomes completely corrupted. Is there a setting on the Motif that needs to be set as well to stop it transmitting?

ta

Steve V

Hey thanks,

You maybe know i’m an amateur with all of this but i’m going to try this out thanks for this great effort.

Nico

ToneDeaf - 08 February 2010 01:31 PM

Thanks DF. Just downloaded it and gave it a try. Is it supposed to run as a stand alone for edit then disconnect?

I am connected via USB to an old pentium 4 running XP. I selected the Yamaha Motif XS-1, put the Motif into performance mode and press sync. This I assume has worked as the correct performance name appers on the PC. However if I play any notes, the Xtreme programs dials etc all begin to alter and the sound on the motif becomes completely corrupted. Is there a setting on the Motif that needs to be set as well to stop it transmitting?

The app needs to be in constant communication with the XS while editing. Every change you make onscreen is translated into MIDI SysEx and transmitted in realtime to the XS.

It should ignore anything coming from the XS, except for stuff it specifically asks for, or is expecting. The dials etc. shouldn’t alter if you play notes on the XS. The only thing that will make them change (apart from clicking on them) is when you perform a sync (in which case they should update to reflect the current status of the XS) or when you assign a new voice to a performance part.

The behaviour you are describing is extremely odd - certainly I’ve never seen it during development.

I have not done much testing on XP however, only on OS X, so there could be something weird going on that I’ve missed. I’ll be taking a look at it tomorrow and will see if I can figure out what might be going on!

Df.

EDIT: I just had a quick look, and the Windows build does seem to have some quirks not present in the OS X version, although nothing like you described. I’ll take a proper look tomorrow!

Who’s a genius?
you are!!!

excellent work and it looks beautiful, Thank you so much.

mmmm i like the touch of the knobs and sliders with the Shift key - smoothy (:

Well done mate!

and now.......A bug for you.

Looking at the Windows version on a Thinkpad running Vista 32bit. (not connected to the XS at the mo.)

Clicking ‘play chord’ plays a major chord as expected but click on major/minor button and the interface changes to ‘minor’ but the keyboard still visually plays (and you hear) a major chord. - still E natural - no E flat.

Will keep you posted.

Have you thought how you want bugs reported - maybe a dedicated thread here or on your site?

Best,

B

PS You can be very proud of what you have produced here - this is going to help a lot of people get a lot more from this instrument.

boulez - 08 February 2010 05:35 PM

Clicking ‘play chord’ plays a major chord as expected but click on major/minor button and the interface changes to ‘minor’ but the keyboard still visually plays (and you hear) a major chord. - still E natural - no E flat.

Shiver me timbers, you’re right! I know exactly what happened there too - will fix that immediately.

boulez - 08 February 2010 05:35 PM

Have you thought how you want bugs reported - maybe a dedicated thread here or on your site?

Good thought. I’ll look into setting up some form of decent bug tracking / project forum seperately from this site - I don’t want to clutter up the general XS forum with 3rd party specific threads.

Thanks for the encouragement - I want to get the framework solid enough to work reliably under as many setups as possible. I’ve already started re-engineering the core MIDI sync routine with this in mind. Ideally I’d like to get v2 of the engine supporting bi-directional communication as well though that will follow on subsequently.

It’s interesting. Writing software for yourself is easy. Writing it to run on everyone else’s setup is harder than I thought, especially cross-platform!

Df.

I have created a forum for the XStremeTouch software now, which I’ll be using to post more detailed info from time to time.

http://xstremetouch.freeforums.org/index.php

This will also serve as a bug tracker. I’ve created it primarily as an information resource rather than a community forum but it’s open for public registration so fee free to come in and speak your mind if you so wish ;-)

Df.

DF, it would be great if we could double click on a window and type a value, it will be efficient and will save some precious editing time and needless mouse touch.

examples are the Tempo window, PB range window(upper and lower separately...?! :) :)
velocity Limit and Note Limit windows and all the value numbers found under the knobs.