Old Motifator threads are available in the Archive.
Bad_Mister
Total Posts: 36620
Joined 07-30-2002 status: Moderator |
Just wait ...there are certainly synth workstations with much longer boot times… this is the news I heard from musikmesse… It is really not unusual for longer boot times as synthesizers improve… those who owned a computer back in the early days remember that computers came ON as fast as a lamp. My first TRS80 booted up immediately. That flashing C:\ prompt was there immediately. :) It was everything else that took time… you had to type everything or play one of those static-y cassettes to program something. Yikes! When the picture-filled desktop environments arrived on the scene, longer boot times became a reality for computers… no less, the need for loading anti-virus software, etc., etc., etc. Anybody want to trade there current day computer environment for the stark, dark background of a C:\ prompt and text? Hey they did boot right up!!! If your electrical power goes down, you do not have to worry about getting back into the swing of things in a big hurry… the audience will most likely wait for you to be ready. If not, they will leave. If they leave that’s on them… but I tend to think if you have something to say musically, they’ll wait. Mostly they will wait for the band to be ready - and mostly they will be happy whether that is in 10 seconds after the power is restored or a couple of minutes after the lights come back on. And even if it is a long, long time it is quickly forgotten as soon as you are back jamming. :) I think it is pretty obvious but I’ll state it anyway… the instrument is flexible because of how it is able to use the CPU it has… if that means loading some code into its working RAM then that is the state-of-the-art. This could easily be solved by making the unit a lot more expensive. If that is what is the overall market demand, I’m sure that is what you will begin to see. But until then - not so much. But as to “the longest time"… just wait (pun intended… ) :-) |
whinecellar
Total Posts: 14
Joined 09-16-2009 status: Regular |
Again, maybe in a small club context or a show where there aren’t 20,000-100,000 people staring at the stage (or a live TV audience)… but I digress. Again, the point is that 42 seconds IS an awfully long time, but as you pointed out (and I acknowledged earlier) - I was wrong to infer that the XF is the only synth with such a long boot time (the Korg M3 apparently wins the title right now). I still hope the code can be optimized to speed that up a bit. I do remember the “C prompt” days, and back then I could tell you anything about any keyboard on the market. Once the virtual instrument phenomenon took off I stopped caring about hardware synths - so to be fair, my point of reference is that even up until recently you’d power up a synth and it would be ready to play in a few seconds. That’s probably why I’m being persnickety about this - I haven’t kept up with the latest hardware synths. These days I spend 90% of my time in the studio scoring films & trailers, so the only time I really interact with my XF is when I tour - and it’s the perfect centerpiece for that rig. So perhaps I’ve become spoiled by the software realm - hence my surprise when I first booted up the XF. All things considered, we live in pretty amazing times - and when I think back to my DX7/D-50/M1/EX7 days, I’m pretty blown away by what the XF can do ;-) |
motif8mine
Total Posts: 1743
Joined 10-22-2004 status: Guru |
I do find it interesting that this particular line: the Motif ES, XS and XF is certainly a widely used board by touring and professional musicians and as a general rule, there is not a loud clamor decrying the load time of this board. Most of my musical heroes use or have used the board in one capacity or another: Chick Corea, Stevie Wonder, Joe Sample, Jeff Lorber, etc… and they somehow make it work. Certainly a crowd of 20,000 to 100,000 would probably work to your advantage. A quick, “We got Bin Laden!” is at least good for a 42 second applause in a crowd of that size. And, any stage hand, tripping over cables in a venue that size or on a TV set, really shouldn’t have a job. The technicians / crew at a TV station should certainly be aware of the requirements regarding the setup of instruments and most hosts know how to adapt to a momentary problem- can you say, “Let’s go to a commercial break”. Again, not sure why a UPS can’t be used on TV but, I digress. I have all of my cables and cords taped down or placed under a cord cover/tent. And, I have been a working musician in one capacity or another for decades and I have never had someone kick out a cable- ever… We’ve had novices run our mixers when our sound man didn’t show and no one has ever kicked out a power cable… Back in the day, we did run into problems with tube power amps kicking their fuses out, which provided for some interesting moments, but it forced creativity. One gig in particular, a sub system powering the keyboards kept over-heating. We adapted and the only way the audience could have known something was wrong would have been our reactions. When you plan for contingencies, those who hire you will be impressed with your professionalism Anyway, no one is saying that quicker boot times would not be welcomed. It’s just that I don’t particularly see an issue with the time. Again, I see no difference in it and when my guitar strings would break during solo guitar gigs.. As Bad_Mister stated, the audience was very understanding. Every instrument electric, electronic or acoustic has its own particular set of requirements as it relates to setup and things that can go awry… I use to complain about my six or so minutes of boot time for my XS. But, when power goes out, and, it does so quite often in the neighborhood around our Church, I’ve developed a plan ‘B’. I have songs I can play that do not require the samples, do a quick reboot without the autoload and reload it at a part of the service that affords the necessary time. |
whinecellar
Total Posts: 14
Joined 09-16-2009 status: Regular |
Yes, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want it to boot faster given a choice. No touring pro is going to LIKE the fact that a keyboard takes 42 seconds to boot, for obvious reasons.
Yep, gotta hand you that one ;-)
Agreed, but then what good would unions be ;-)
They can, and we always ask for that in our rider for fly dates. Amazing though how promoters just think you’re being “high maintenance” and ignore what they want…
Consider yourself one of the fortunate few! Back to the issue, it’s really not a deal-breaker, as I thought I pointed out in my previous post. I also said I was wrong to infer the XF being unreasonably out of step with the competition - I now realize it’s not. It’s a relatively minor annoyance that I hope can be improved and is a small price to pay for the overall functionality of the unit. For me personally, it was more a matter of surprise than anything that a keyboard would take as long (or longer) to boot than a computer, but I recognize we’re not comparing apples (Apples?) to oranges ;-) Either way, if the XF serves me as well as its predecessors (I’ve owned them all), I’ll be a more than happy camper ;-) Cheers, Jim |
zikerstu
Total Posts: 326
Joined 08-06-2008 status: Enthusiast |
I can’t compare my XS’s load time to my other boards as they are mostly straight up digi synths, but I gotta alot of samples and SFX I use in that sucker! Thus the long load time but always well worth it. If we lose power I just reload it all and pick up my guitar and play a song or two that requires no keyboards! No worries, and we ask that the particular venue installs 220 power so it doesn’t happen again. (Hopefully) Remember the Roland S-50 and all the disk juggling fun that came with it? I had to bring a crate of disks with me to my gigs with that beast. Ah the good ole days.... |
meatballfulton
Total Posts: 3022
Joined 01-25-2005 status: Guru |
UK mag Future Music just reviewed the Korg Kronos. Despite the SSD they timed the boot at 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Ouch!!! Suddenly 42 seconds doesn’t seem slow at all ;) |
5pinDIN
Total Posts: 11891
Joined 09-16-2010 status: Legend |
Yes, but Korg fanatics will probably claim that a Kronos is the equivalent of at least 2 or 3 Motifs. ;-) |
sciuriware
Total Posts: 9999
Joined 08-18-2003 status: Guru |
... and what is 42 seconds of your miserable lives?
;JOOOP! |
5pinDIN
Total Posts: 11891
Joined 09-16-2010 status: Legend |
Which HSOS (Homo Sapiens Operating System) are you running? |
bytexion
Total Posts: 128
Joined 05-12-2011 status: Pro |
Didn’t time my boot, seems to be roughly 30 seconds. No problem for me, I’m used to my analog synths having to warm up for 10 minutes, then autotune the oscillators and filters for 2 minutes before they’re playable anyway. :P |
macalister
Total Posts: 151
Joined 09-13-2010 status: Pro |
Yeah, 2011 Korg “Kronos” start time up 2 minutes +.....WTF! |
bytexion
Total Posts: 128
Joined 05-12-2011 status: Pro |
Well, the more software, the more boot time. That’s what you get for cramming a dozen VST instruments inside a hardware box. |
VikasSharma
Total Posts: 1523
Joined 10-05-2010 status: Guru |
I don’t know of any other current pro-level synth with such a long boot time. Remember when Bad_Mister told us to wait! |