I have just bought a guitar synth system and I’m looking at This unit as the perfect sound or tone generator to use with the synth unit & pickup. The sounds on a Motif are absolutely perfect for what I want to do on the guitar (tracking always being a basic issue with Guitar Synths). But I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with hooking this rack mount Motif up to a Yamaha G50 guitar interface (designed to interface with any Roland Axon or Yamaha etc. Sound Canvas). One of the major problems I’m having is terminology in that the use of names as ‘sound canvas’, ‘tone generator’, ‘sound module’ and even sampler seem interchangable when one talks of these hardware units.

Does anyone have experience with this type of unit, I want one like this Motif in that it has a good range of, Synth, Sampled, and Realistic midi sound on it - the expansion option is of course a great advantage as well (I play prog and some Arp & Mellotron sounds would be a dream)

OK so this is a lifeline HELP ME call to all you Motif users who know more than I do. I look forward to your help of course.

Thanks in Advance

Northerner

Sound Canvas is a name of sound module from back in the early 1990s made by the Roland Corporation - it is not a generic name for anything. It is a specific product (long discontinued, by the way)… a small (half-rack) module with GM/GS sounds.

Yamaha never made the Sound Canvas… the Yamaha half rack module that was the equivalent of the Roland Sound Canvas was called the TG100 (circa 1991) (and maybe the MU80 (circa 1994))

The Axon (if I remember correctly) was the name of a MIDI guitar synthesizer system… again a totally separate product. But made neither by Yamaha nor Roland.

The Sound Canvas is a TONE GENERATOR (literally generates tones or sound for your MIDI controller). The Sound Canvas is a SOUND MODULE (again it literally generates sound for your MIDI controller).

The AXON is a MIDI Guitar Synthesizer

There are many users of Guitar controllers that trigger a Motif or Motif-Rack module for their sounds. Ideally you want to have a unit that can receive simultaneously on at least 6 MIDI channels - one for each string. So to play a particular synth sound you need to recall that sound 6 times - once for each string of your guitar.

This is easy on any multi-timbral/multi-MIDI channel synth engine (tone generator, sound module)… all the same thing. Choose the module based on the sounds you like.

Yes this is excellent information you have given me, it is just the sound module part I’m a bit concerned with.

I have the guitar pickup system which functions as a 6 individual sound relay system with the midi/synth interface both made by Yamaha (actually Axon since Yamaha used their technology when they made this interface). Yamaha has left this market now to Roland & Axon, mainly because the were using Axons technology anyway and it is a relatively small market, but the equipment they did make is quite good and tracking from all I have read is superior to Roland’s with a 4 times fast tracking responce. Mind you Roland make nice stuff also.

You are also correct in that only Roland & Axon made real Syth/Midi Guitar interfaces but you certainly cleared up the reason the sound module come under so many names.

So ideally now thank to your info I will be looking for a Motif sound module, because they seem to have amazing sounds both on board as well as available to load later. Plus I would think a lot of these are actual digital samples which is the way to go these days.

Thanks for you input. I truly appreciate it. If anyone knows more please share.

Northerner