Hi to all,

I have a Motif XS7 (which I dearly love) and over the last 2 1/2 years have become fairly adept at creating patterns and songs which I use regularly, both in the studio and particularly on stage.  If not for the 1024K sequencer memory limit, I could be happy for a long time to come.  Alas, I’m approaching a crossroads.

I gig regularly with two bands.  Some of the sequences are common, and others are unique to each band.  In both bands, songs are cycled in and out constantly, so the set lists are always different from gig to gig.

Having read a lot of posts in this forum about how to manage the limited sequencer memory available, I have used a number of methods to keep my programs as small as possible.  I am satisfied that I am probably not able to get more efficiency without sacrificing both the quality of the finished product and my ability to make later improvements.

Right now, I have 40 patterns and 2 songs stored on-board which consume 770k of memory.  Unimpeded, I can easily imagine that total ballooning to 100 or more in another 2 or 3 years, but how to manage them with limited capacity threatens to become a major headache.  I can probably generate about 10 more patterns before I have to do something to work around the capacity limit.  The following questions come to mind:

1.  Is there a way to offload and selectively reload patterns and songs quickly without it becoming an organizational nightmare?  As you will note above, my performances are not very predictable, so flexibility is important.

2.  My setup includes a laptop, mostly for intermission music and recording.  Is there a software solution that can take advantage of the XS’ sound library and that has more capacity/flexibility, won’t break the bank and is reasonably easy to use?

3.  Are there separate hardware sequencers that are worth considering?

I see my ability to continue to produce high quality sequences as a professional advantage, so it’s very important to me to come up with a manageable solution that can carry me forward for the next 5 years or so.

One last item:  While piano was my first instrument, I have spent most of my time as a guitarist, and while I have a good ear and am a quick study, I am not very familiar with most of the gear out there, so please be patient with me if I ask elementary questions.  Thanks again.  Love this forum.

All help appreciated.

I would think the the Melas Mix Editor...in conjunction with the Melas Total Librarian...would make moving sets of PATTERNS/SONGS in and out of the machine much more efficient.  Are you familiar with the Melas Tools?

From the Mix Editor Quick Start Guide:

4. Save Mixes
After you have finished tweaking a mix, in order to keep it, you have to store it to the synth’s internal memory (template or card), or even better you can store it to your hard disk as a mix file (*.mix) by using the menu command FileSave. If your mix uses User Voices or User Drum Kits the Mix Editor saves an additional Total Librarian (*.allxf/*.allxs/*.allrxs/*.allsxs/*.allmox) file containing those patches using the same name with the Mix.

From the Mix Editor Menu-->File-->Save description:

• Save
You can save the currently edited mix to a sysex mix (*.mix) file using this command.
If the mix contains Mix Voices (MIXV bank) they are stored inside the mix file together with the Mix Data.
If the mix contains User Voices this command will automatically dump them to a Total Library (*.allxf/*.allxs/*.allrxs/*.allsxs/*.allmox) file and save it to the same path with the mix file.

Sounds interesting.  What is the connection between the computer and the Motif?  USB?

Yes, MIDI over USB.

The Melas tools are excellent (all of them).  I have not tried doing the specific kind of exercise you are describing, but I believe you will find the Mix Editor quite useful for putting together sets of PATTERNS/SONGS to quickly install into the keyboard.

There are many people here using the Melas software, hopefully someone that is doing something similar to you will chime in.

This software suite can be downloaded and installed in DEMO Mode for free.  You should be able to tell in short order whether it is going to be valuable for you.

Another option would be to email your needs as outlined, directly to John, and ask if the Editor would be useful.

He is a very straightforward and helpful person.

info@jmelas.gr

When you save your sequences in an All, All Songs or All Patterns file it saves all of them. When you load however, you can choose to load all of them or individual Songs/Patterns.

So you can do this:

1. Save your sequences in an All file.

2. Clear the sequencer memory (use the Clear Songs job to erase all in one pass)

3. Reload just the sequences you need for a particular gig. Once you have loaded all of them, then save a new appropriately named All file.

Now you have one file per per gig, then before you go to the gig reload the appropriate All file.

I’ve been informed by John Melas that none of the Melas tools handle sequence data.  A real shame, as they otherwise seem quite compelling.

Meatballfulton, your method may be the only viable option for now.  I was hoping for something more intuitive and scalable. 

Anyone else have any ideas?  All help appreciated.

Hi to all,

A little update:

After posting and receiving some advice on yamahasynth.com (thank you again Bad Mister), I have purchased and deployed Cubase LE AI Elements and am having a crack at importing a song and playing it back on the Motif over a USB connection.  It’s taking a little time and progress is slow, but I’m being very deliberate.  Is there a place on this forum that deals with Cubase and its integration with Yamaha keyboards?

I’ve also developed an offloading/reloading workaround that will do for now, and with some refinement, might be good enough to last indefinitely.  It’s a little convoluted, but if anyone is interested in the details I’ll post them.

In the meantime, thanks and my best to all.

There is a Steinberg forum here at Motifator for discussing Cubase.