When I follow the procedure described in the 1.10 documentation and read a WAV file into a Song, I get a voice in bank SMPL. Then I can do a VCE CONV to turn it into a mixing voice.

Is this SMPL bank something I can get to “by hand?” Can I change a SMPL voice to use a different waveform? Or do I always need to go the VCE CONV route?

Also, the waveform gets assigned to a particular key. The default is C3. Is there some way to change that to a different key after the fact? That might be useful: I could have a number of different songs I wanted to play along with, each assigned to its own key. (But I suspect that I’ll find out that this idea of mine is based on a fundamental misunderstanding that I’ll be happy to hear about so that I can learn to understand things more accurately.)

Is this SMPL bank something I can get to “by hand?”

Not 100% sure what “by hand” means. But if it means what I think, then no. The SMPL bank (also abbreviated “SP” and officially called the User Sample Voice) 63/50 is accessed:
1) directly from the INTEGRATED SAMPLING > REC feature.
2) by loading a .WAV or .AIF directly to a PART in the Integrated Sampling Sequencer

What the VCE CONV (Voice Convert) does is take the User Sample Voice 63/50 and create a normal Mixing Voice 63/60

What is the difference between a USER SAMPLE VOICE (63/50) and the MIXING VOICE (63/60) or regular USER VOICE (63/08-63/11)
The User Sample Voice has the same 128 slots (notes) to hold samples, but it has none of the other Voice parameters… When you use VCE CONV you are offered an option to store to either MIXV location or you can redirect it to the general USER 1, 2, 3, 4 bank locations. These Voices have a full compliment of parameters including Filters, envelopes, micro-tuning, Note Shift, access to Insert Effects, 3-band EQ, etc., etc., etc.,

Can I change a SMPL voice to use a different waveform?

So your question is not logical. 128 Key Banks = a Waveform
A Key Bank is defined by a range of notes and velocities. If you load a sample directly to C3, initially its Key Bank range is C3-C3, 1-127

Samples can be stretched or “mapped” horizontally across a range of notes on the keyboard… Initially the default is Equal Temperament scaling. Initially the Velocity is set full range 1-127.

Also, the waveform gets assigned to a particular key. The default is C3. Is there some way to change that to a different key after the fact?

press [INTEGRATED SAMPLING]
Select the WAVEFORM 001-128
In the field in the middle of the screen is a list of the KEY BANKS within the selected WAVEFORM
Highlight the Sample by moving the cursor into the field, it is mapped to C3-C3, 001-127
Press [EDIT]

You now are looking at the parameters assigned to this sample Key Bank… Find the KEY RANGE and change it to what you desire. Press [EXIT] to return…

If you still want the sample to occupy a single key but just a different key…
Press [INTEGRATED SAMPLING]
Select the Waveform 001-128
Highlight the Key Bank C3-C3
Press [JOB]
Press [F1] KEYBANK
Select the Job 01: COPY
You can use the Copy job to copy the sample on C3 to any key in any Waveform including the current Waveform. You can use the DELETE Job to remove the original, if you wish.

There is no need to press STORE, edits made to the raw sample data is what it is… They take affect immediately and this change is now accessible by any VOICE Element that accesses this Waveform.

Just what I needed! It’s great that you know these depths. Thanks!

Bad_Mister - 16 September 2013 05:01 PM

What the VCE CONV (Voice Convert) does is take the User Sample Voice 63/50 and create a normal Mixing Voice 63/60

What is the difference between a USER SAMPLE VOICE (63/50) and the MIXING VOICE (63/60) or regular USER VOICE (63/08-63/11)

I just noticed one thing I don’t understand in your reply. What are the numbers like 63/60? I’m sure they mean something useful, and I’d like to understand them.

Thanks.

Michael Trigoboff - 17 September 2013 06:14 PM

I just noticed one thing I don’t understand in your reply. What are the numbers like 63/60? I’m sure they mean something useful, and I’d like to understand them.

Thanks.

Those are the MSB/LSB numbers for those particular BANKS.  Check out the Motif XF MIDI DATA LIST (Page 123, MIDI DATA TABLE [Bank Select]) for these assignments in the XF.

When MIDI was first introduced a BANK of sounds was defined as 128 programs. This was, at the time more sounds than most synthesizers provided and was the first thing that the system outgrew.

The BANK SELECT protocol provides for a method to select different BANKS via a pair of CONTROL CHANGE messages:

cc000 is called the Most Significant Byte
cc032 is called the Least Significant Byte

Used together you can define different BANKS of programs within a synthesizer. The MSB/LSB numbers are used to define these banks. For example, it is a standard convention that MSB = 000 and LSB = 000 is the Bank of 128 GM (or General MIDI) programs.

So the MSB is a number between 000 and 127
The LSB is a number between 000 and 127

Providing for some 16,384 Banks of programs available in MIDI, theoretically. Most products do not have that many banks - and we don’t anticipate MIDI ever running out of places to put programs (any time soon, anyway).

In the Motif XF the VOICE Banks are: (number in parenthesis = # of programs)
063/000 = Preset 1 (128)
063/001 = Preset 2 (128)
063/002 = Preset 3 (128)
063/003 = Preset 4 (128)
063/004 = Preset 5 (128)
063/005 = Preset 6 (128)
063/006 = Preset 7 (128)
063/007 = Preset 8 (128)

063/008 = User 1 (128)
063/009 = User 2 (128)
063/010 = User 3 (128)
063/011 = User 4 (128)

063/032 = Preset Drums (64)
063/040 = User Drums (32)
063/050 = User Sample Voice (128)
063/060 = Mixing Voice (16 per Mixing; 256 total)

000/000 = GM Normal (128)
127/000 = GM Drums (1)

If you were sequencing in the Motif XF and you were playing an Electric piano sound on Track 1 (CH1) and at measure 65 you need to change to the FULL CONCERT GRAND acoustic piano… you would place a BANK SELECT and Program Change event in the data of track 1 just before you want the sound to change (allowing approximately 100ms for the Program to switch)…

From the main SONG screen, select Track 1
Press [EDIT]
Press [F5] INSERT
Set EVENT TYPE = PROGRAM CHANGE

The form is MSB-LSB-PC (xxx-yyy-zzz)
You would input 063-000-000

“Full Concert Grand” is identified by the MSB 63, LSB 0, (Preset 1) and Program Change 0 (first Voice in Preset 1)

So every Voice in the Motif XF has these identifying numbers (like a Dewey decimal system for programs).

Depending on how the MSB and LSB will be used, there might be a need for their values in HEXadecimal. That’s also given in the table that cmayhle referenced previously.

Bad_Mister - 17 September 2013 06:35 PM

So every Voice in the Motif XF has these identifying numbers (like a Dewey decimal system for programs).

This is all so cool!

Are there any things other than Voices in the Motif XF that are identified by an MSB/LSB pair?

5pinDIN - 18 September 2013 02:59 AM

Depending on how the MSB and LSB will be used, there might be a need for their values in HEXadecimal. That’s also given in the table that cmayhle referenced previously.

For those who might be interested, hexadecimal (hex = 6, decimal = 10) is a way of writing numbers where each digit can be one of 16 possibilities (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F) instead of the usual 10 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). So the number sequence goes like this:

00, 01, 02, …, 09, 0A, 0B, …, 0E, 0F, 10, 11, …, 1F, 20, …

Hexadecimal is used primarily because it’s a handy shortcut for binary. Each hexadecimal digit represents a particular 4-bit binary value. There are 16 possible four-bit values, because 2 to the 4th power is 16.